Sukhwinder Singh burst onto the Hindi film music scene when he sang the chartbuster song Chhaiya Chhaiya from Dil Se. His career reached the zenith with his iconic song Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire which went on to win the Oscar.
Incidentally, the common link between these two memorable songs is A R Rahman. So, it is not surprising that Sukhwinder credits Rahman for his success. “Uniting with A R Rahman was the turning point of my career. Jai Ho was not my personal success but the success of Indian cinema, Indian music and Indian culture. It was a global hit. From Chhaiya Chhaiya to Zero, the journey of music has been a passionate one,” said the 47-year-old artist, when he was in Goa to perform in a live concert last week.
Elaborating on his work relationship with Rahman, the singer mentioned, “Besides singing for Rahman, I have learnt from him about the use of modern techniques. He is a fantabulous technician. Today, I have my own recording studio, just because of Rahman. The good things that I have adopted from him and applied in my life are bearing fruit now.”
“Many artists have inspired me. Lataji (Mangeshkar) and Kishore da (Kishore Kumar) were my idols. In fact, I love listening to Shakira too. Goan folk music was made intentionally popular by Remo Fernandez and now everyone enjoys it,” he said.
In the era of auto tuning, the rare melodious voice of Sukhwinder stood strong without demanding for modulation of tone. “I feel blessed for not having to use the special effects and auto tuner in my songs. But the use of these technologies are very much popular these days,” Sukhwinder said.
“I believe that I belong to the world of entertainment and there is no competition but passion. I am very much relaxed and I work with passion. Whenever I get an opportunity, I justify my voice through the song, “Singh said.
