Sonu Nigam says ‘AR Rahman’s voice is not great’ but compliments his generosity as a composer: ‘He allowed me to compose’

Sonu Nigam and AR Rahman started collaborating in the 1990s and have consistently been working together for almost 30 years now. While Sonu is primarily a singer and Rahman works as a music composer, the latter has given his voice to some of his most popular songs like “Khwaja Mere Khwaja”, “Tere Bina”, “Rehna Tu” among many others. In a recent interview, Sonu said that Rahman is “not a trained singer” but the “tone of his voice is very nice.” He added that even Rahman would admit that he isn’t a great singer.

In a chat with O2 India, Sonu was asked how he would evaluate Rahman as a singer and he said, “Obviously, he is not a very trained singer. The tone of his voice is very nice. He wouldn’t call himself a great singer, so what can we say? He knows his texture is very beautiful but he has never claimed to be a great singer. He is a great composer so obviously he is always in sur. The main thing is to be in sur. What is the point of a good voice texture if one is not in sur? His voice might not be great but he is always in sur because he is AR Rahman.”

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As Sonu commented on Rahman’s singing, he also recalled the time when Rahman generously “allowed” him to compose a small part of the Jodha Akbar song “Inn Lamhon Ke Daaman Mein.” Sonu said that a small part towards the end of the song was composed by him spontaneously after Rahman asked him how he would sing it. “He allowed me to compose that part,” Sonu said with pride. Rahman liked it instantly and decided to retain it as a part of the song.

“He must have tweaked a couple of things but he allowed me to work on this portion because the whole song was ready. Javed saab sent these lines later, so they were added then. So first we sang the whole song, then this portion was done later. He is quite secure. He is not someone who will say that I have to do it,” Sonu shared. The part composed by Sonu coms towards the end of the song and is largely without any instrumentation.