Singer Sonu Nigam has recalled how his early career recording advertising jingles helped him become familiar with several Indian languages and shaped his multilingual singing journey.
Before moving to Mumbai, Sonu Nigam was based in Delhi, where he worked extensively as a jingle singer. He recalled recording as many as 16 to 17 jingles a day, often in different voices and languages.
The experience gave him an opportunity to become familiar with India’s diverse linguistic landscape at a very young age. His early work exposed him to languages including Kashmiri, Haryanavi, Rajasthani, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Manipuri and Assamese.
Over the course of his long career, Sonu Nigam has gone on to sing in numerous Indian languages, including Odia, Bengali, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati, Marathi, Khasi, Konkani, Garhwali, Kumaoni and Dogri.
He recently reconnected with his roots through the Haryanavi romantic song “Chunni”, featuring his vocals alongside Tanuka Punera. The song was written and composed by Armin Bhaydi, while the music video featured Charmee Zaveri.
Haryana holds a special place in Sonu Nigam’s life because of his family connection to the region. He has previously spoken about spending part of his childhood there, while his father and sister also grew up in Haryana.
With a career spanning several decades, Sonu Nigam has lent his voice to more than 6,000 songs across over 32 languages. His extensive body of work covers a wide range of Indian languages and has also included international languages and performances.
His early experience with jingles, he noted, played an important role in helping him develop the linguistic versatility that has become a distinctive part of his musical career.
