THE TRAVELLER

He’s achieved his objective – of singing less but getting more popular numbers than before. Sonu Niigaam, whose songs in 3 Idiots are catching on by the day, is also busy with varied interesting ventures
-------------------------------------------------
How do you divide your time today? A couple of years ago you were virtually living in America.

I divide my time equally between home and Los Angeles. I am doing select songs here and I am least interested in doing too much work. People have been saying that I have barely sung in 2009 but I have had truly great songs like in 3 Idiots, Don’t say alvida in Main Aurr Mrs Khanna and Shukran Allah in Kurbaan. There were Soniyo in Raaz – The Mystery Continues, I wanna chiggy-wiggy with you and Rehnuma in Blue, Aalam guzarne ko in Kal Kissne Dekha and now there is Tu to jaan le in Dulha Mil Gaya.

You also had some unusual interactions on Facebook in which you asked people to send in video entries.
Yes, that was for my Michael Jackson tribute for which I had composed a song.

Composer Wayne Sharpe revealed to us that you were recording a very unique project for Saregama at his studio in America. Can you tell us a bit more?
Oh, that’s a very unique project called Time Travel – it’s a crazy idea that turns the remix concept on its head! We have taken originals from the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s and I have aligned my voice with our legendary singers like Lataji, Mohammed Rafisaab, Mannada and Kishoreda. For me, it’s an unique opportunity to almost sing a duet of sorts with them! But it is much more than that – the idea is that my voice should sound as it was recorded alongside theirs 30, 40 or 50 years ago in terms of the technical sound and feel. The analogue rather than digital feel should come in.
All this sounds easier than it is. We have recorded nine songs and the project is a 5-CD series and technically we have to work very hard when my recording should not sound as if it was added later. Even the marketing campaign will have to be different- and since I am going back in time and ‘singing’ with the greats the name is Time Travel. I do not think anyone has attempted this before.

Is Pramod Chandorkar, your usual engineer, at the helm again?
Yes, he is. This one needs his expertise.

You recently did a song for 26/11. How did that come about?
Well, I was in the USA when I got a call in my office to compose an anthem for the Mumbai Police and 26/11 and Subbu, National Creative Director of Linterland, was the man behind the initiative which was part of a police campaign called Abhedya Mumbai to praise the spirit of the force and Mumbai’s citizens.
Subbu had written the song and for some reason he also wanted me to compose the song, which we launched first on Big FM. I must say that but for one singer, every name that I approached among my fraternity, including legends like Amitji (Amitabh Bachchan), who opens the song, and Jagjit Singhji responded immediately to my call. I composed the song with different portions for each singer and blended them into a kind of anthem-ish rock.

Who are the others who collaborated on this song?
For the first time ever, BBC filmed us while recording the video and has come out with a “Making of the video.” A concert is also being planned now by BIG events.

Who else participated in the song?Suresh Wadkarji, Talat Aziz, Hariharan, Shankar Mahadevan, Roopkumar Rathod, Shaan, Kunal Ganjawala, Kailash Kher, Alka Yagnik, Sunidhi Chauhan, Mahalakshmi Iyer and Richa Sharma all responded.

A curious point is the posting of your duet with Shreya Ghoshal on Facebook that you have recorded for Pyarelal. Is that a film song?
I wouldn’t know what is happening to the song. It was recorded about 18 months ago in the classic old style at Yash Raj Studios with 80-90 musicians. But it was a very gratifying experience.

Can you elaborate on that?
As I said, it was a ‘live’ recording and I promised Pyarebaba that I would record the song after a rehearsal in one take, just like the legends did. I did not want any punching done of portions that were not perfect. He was very thrilled that I managed that. Pyarebaba is among my icons. I have had the privilege of going to his house and his gifting me a book and teaching me a lot of things about music.
The other aspect was that the song recording took me back to my struggling days when songs were recorded live – I had sung a few songs for Laxmikant-Pyarelal then, like Hungama ho gaya in Deewana Mastana. Most of the musicians in theirs and others’ recordings had known me then as a struggler and it was very touching to meet them again after such a long gap, for live musicians are barely given work now and in any case the track is ready when we dub the song so we do not get to meet them.

What do you think of the current trend of composers from the biggest names to the newest entrants singing most of their songs? One reason they give is that they know the song better as they have lived with it for weeks while programming it.
I think that is a very unconvincing reason! They are compromising on the longevity of a song, just as they also do nowadays by casting an inappropriate singer – be it of the wrong tenor or calibre or someone who comes for a lower price! A composer cannot go on an ego trip, and only a great singer added to a great composition can lead to a perennial song. But at the end of the day, if they want to harm their own songs, it’s their life.
And are they trying to say that Naushadsaab or Shankar-Jaikishanji gaane to banaate waqt ragadte nahin the? Then if they could understand the nuances of their compositions best, why did they bother to employ a Rafisaab or a Mukeshji? And Usha Khannaji need not have had Lataji or Ashaji, right?

What else are you up to now?
Without false modesty, I am doing lots of good work in Kannada films and CDs sell on my name there. In the last three years, I have sung for almost all the great and contemporary names there.

What about Hindi films?
I have sung in A.R.Rahman’s Raavan and there are some excellent songs in Veer. Sajid-Wajid and Gulzar have come up with such great music.

Are things sorted out between Himesh Reshammiya and you?
There was no problem from my side. There were comments he made to the media to which I did not retaliate.