Blog | News | TravelTechnology TangleSonu Nigam reveals Anu Malik bullied him when he was new to the industry

Sonu Nigam is one of the most well known singers in Bollywood. In a new interview with Bollywood Hungama, the singer opened up about his bond with composer Anu Malik, and confessed that earlier he used to get scared of him. Sonu, who considers Anu Malik to be his ‘guruji’ revealed that he was also bullied by him at times. (Also read: Musicians take AI’s help to imagine what Haule Haule would sound like if sung by Mohammad Rafi; result is just magical)

What Sonu said

Sonu Nigam and Anu Malik have worked together on a number of songs.

In a new interview with Bollywood Hungama, Sonu said in Hindi, “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.'”

Sonu further added how he learnt how to deal with him and that he has learnt a lot from Anu Malik. “When I came to Mumbai, my father 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 (The more you will go in a corner, the more you will be cornered). I even learnt a lot from him, he is my guruji,” he said. Sonu also shared that Anu Malik has utilised his voice to the fullest.

Interestingly, both Anu Malik and Sonu Nigam were judges on the popular singing reality show Indian Idol, along with choreographer Farah Khan. They also appeared together on The Kapil Sharma show.

Sonu and Anu’s collaborations

Anu Malik had given Sonu Nigam the biggest break of his career through Refugee, where he recorded all the songs filmed on Abhishek Bachchan in Sonu Nigam’s voice. They have since collaborated on a number of songs, which include Mere Rang Balle Balle from Soldier (1998), What Is Mobile Number from Haseena Maan Jaayegi (1999), Tu Hawa Hai from Fiza (2000), Aate Jaate Jo Milta Hai from Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega (2000), Milne Se Darta Hai Dil from Badal (2000), Chori Chori from Om Jai Jagadish (2002) and Sau Dard from Jaan-E-Mann (2006).