Hey now, I am an all star

Subhash K Jha

Eight years ago Sonu Nigam created television history by hosting the talent scouting contest Sa Re Ga Ma on Zee Television.

Next month, he returns as a music pogramme host on Star Television, this time to anchor the karaoke contest Kis Mein Kitna Hai Dum.

"I did Kis Mein Kitna Hai Dum because it offered me a chance to do something totally different from Sa Re Ga Ma. I have so many things happening in my career, while they (Zee) have just this one big show to talk about. I wish them the best."

Just back from New Zealand after a concert tour, Sonu is currently shooting in Lucknow for his feature film Kaash Aap Hamare Hote. Produced by Raj Babbar, the film also marks the launch of his daughter Juhi. The film is 90 per cent complete.

"Rajji told me he had this subject in mind for himself and the late Smita Patil and now he wanted to make it with me and his daughter. I felt it was a great honour."

Even as he shoots for Kaash Aap Hamare Hote, Sonu already has another film ready for release. In Raj Kumar Kohli's Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahani Sonu is pitied against biggies like Sunny Deol, Akshay Kumar and Suneil Shetty. "But I know I will be noticed," he says confidently.

He is in great demand, thanks to succesive wins at both the Zee Cine and Screen Awards for Best Playback Singer.

However, Nigam is unhappy with the popular awards in the country. "Do the judges know anything about music? How can an actor or a choreographer judge my abilities as a singer? For years popular awards have been given to the most offkey singers of the country. The whole process is corrupt and faulty."

Sonu who is about to broaden his base by entering the acting field, got married to his sweetheart of six years earlier this month. Scoffing at rumours of an affair between him and Smita Thackeray, he says, ""She is a fan of mine who has bought every cassette that I have recorded. She is a family friend, 13 years older to me, almost my mother's age than mine. Though I am no stranger to scandals and gossip, this was a bit too much."

Nigam will be soon for live concerts in Holland plus a dealyed honeymoon ("My parents are also coming along"), and will then reappear on television.

Says Nigam , "My first instinct was to say no. After all I had so much on my plate. But when I saw the original programme Night Fever from which Kis Mein Kitna Hai Dum has been adapted, I was hooked. It gives me a chance to dress up, behave and project myself completely differently from Sa Re Ga Ma."

Once shrugged off as a clone of legendary singer Mohammed Rafi, "Today I feel so happy and honoured when composers hand over their tunes to me and tell me to interpret them my way. But I have a lot more to do."