Sonu Nigam is one of the most renowned and loved playback singers in Indian cinema. A Padma Shri recipient, Sonu’s interest in music had developed right when he was about four years old, and had accompanied his father, Agam Kumar Nigam on the stage to sing one of Mohammed Rafi’s iconic songs. After making his first playback debut with DD1’s television serial, Talash in 1992, he went on to create some of the most melodious tracks, which included several gigs, solo music albums and other international stage shows. Over the years of his glorious career, Sonu has contributed to create some of the most popular numbers, such as Yeh Dil Deewana from Pardes, Suraj Hua Maddham and You Are My Sonia from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Panchhi Nadiyan from Refugee and so many others.
Sonu Nigam recalls being bullied by Anu Malik during the initial phase of his career
In a recent interaction with Bollywood Hungama, Sonu Nigam spoke about his bonding and collaboration with popular music composer, Anu Malik, with whom he has co-created some of the most iconic songs. Speaking about their friendship, Sonu recalled how in the initial stages of his career, he was severely bullied by Anu Malik, based on the grounds that the latter was a much senior and seasoned musician in the industry. Sharing how he was scared at first, and then learnt the way to deal with him, Sonu mentioned:
“First I used to get scared of him. When I was new in the industry, he used to bully me, in the sense that he was older than me, and had a lot of experience. I met him when I was 14 years old, at a competition which I won. That time he had said, get him to me when he grows up. When I came to Mumbai, my dad and I went to see him. He was very intimidating at that time. But slowly, I understood how to deal with him. Jitna daboge, utna dabaenge. I even learnt a lot from him, he is my guruji.”