Sonu Nigam
During the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s, Sonu Nigam was regarded as one of the greatest singers in Bollywood. With songs like “Yeh Dil Deewana” (Pardes), “Satrangi Re” (Dil Se),
“Tanhayee” (Dil Chahta Hai), “Saathiya” (Saathiya), and “Sandese Aate Hai” (Border), he provided music fans with treasures. Since 1997’s Pardes, he has also lent Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan’s singing voice to a number of movies. Actors, according to him, hardly ever battle for the right to sing in movies.
While interacting with Zoom Entertainment recently, he said, “I don’t think actors fight or interfere with singers in their films. If that were the case, I would still be singing for Shah Rukh Khan.
They (actors) think this is the composer’s or director’s department. The best they can do is give their preference. But they don’t fight for anyone.”
Sonu’s voice has recently been heard in movies like Mission Majnu, Shehzada, Adipurush, and Laal Singh Chaddha with Aamir Khan. Sonu says of how he acquired the songs for Laal Singh Chaddha, “Aamir was himself the producer of the film, so he thought that this song should be mine.”
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However, there was a time when Sonu was shunned by the business, but directors Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Rajkumar Hirani insisted on hiring him for their projects. The singer recalls, “I had a fight with the record labels in Pakistan when I sang the song ‘Bhagwan Hai Kahan Re Tu. However, Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra refused to budge, declaring that “only Sonu will sing this song” (Sonu hi gaayega).
