JOIN USRemember Aishwarya Nigam? The singer who shot to fame with his performances in reality shows Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and Ek Mai Aur Ek Tu is back in action with his superhit Tere Mohalle from Besharam. Though the film did not succeed as expected, the song topped the charts for quite a few weeks. Talking about the latest hit, Aishwarya says, “It is a very light romantic number. I feel I got more scope to prove my talent in this song. When I saw Rockstar, I was very impressed by Ranbir and wanted to sing for him. So, one of my dreams got fulfilled.”
Incidentally, the song saw the re-union of the famous Munni Badnaam Hui trio — composer Lalit Pandit, singer Mamta Sharma and Aishwarya Nigam. Understandably, the young singer is happy about its success. “Recording for Lalit Pandit is one of the toughest things to do! But I overcame that challenge during Munni...”
Sporting long hair and a beard, the fashionable singer starts talking about his journey from Muzaffarpur to Mumbai. He tells us an interesting story — “My name is Aishwarya Srivastav, but during my school days, I changed my last name to Nigam, and my father, who knew a bit about numerology, asked me to retain that title.”
The singer considers Mohammad Rafi and Sonu Nigam as his idols. “I worship Sonu Nigam. My urge to get into playback singing for Hindi films was inspired by his success and talent,” he says. He also attributes his success to his encouraging parents. “I started my musical journey by tabla playing and learnt classical music from Ashwini Kumar. I consider myself lucky that I am still learning from him.”
But his real break came when he decided to participate in the reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa in 2005. “My father asked me to go to Jamshedpur as an audition for the show was being held there. The first thing I did was to pray God to stop me from going to the audition. I was scared because the show has its own dignity, and many eminent music maestros come there to judge. I was not at all confident about myself.”
Thankfully, God had other plans and Aishwarya went for the audition and passed the test. Composer duo Jatin-Lalit heard Aishwarya for the first time and selected him. After clearing two-three rounds, the young lad from Bihar came to Mumbai for the main competition. He was selected for Himesh Reshammiya’s team. “But I got eliminated in the finals. There were heated arguments among the judges because of my elimination. I went back to my hometown and thought I’ll do something else. After some time, I was called for Agnipariksha, and once again got eliminated. I thought that was the end of my singing career,” remembers Aishwarya.
But destiny had something else in store for him. “In 2006, I got a call from Gajendra Singh, who asked me to participate in Ek Main Aur Ek Tu, along with singer Ujjaini Mukherjee. We went on to win the title. That is when my musical journey started rolling.”
In 2008, he got his first big break in playback singing through the song Sikandar for Corporate. Aishwarya has sung for a few television shows like Kitni Mohabbat Hai and Jee Le Zara. Talking about that experience, Aishwarya says, “The song from Kitni Mohabbat Hai is very popular, and I still remember a show in Arunachal Pradesh where the girls in the audience were shouting and asking me to sing the show’s title track before I could go on to the stage. It is fascinating how people can relate to a television show’s title track.”
Apart from singing for Salman Khan and Ranbir Kapoor, the young lad has also participated in six reality shows and hosted Sa Re Ga Ma Pa in the US. “Hosting the show abroad was a different experience as I have participated in it earlier. I have also participated in shows like IPL Rockstar, Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar and a few more.”Aishwarya has already recorded three songs for a Satish Kaushik film, and has some good projects lined up for next year. He seems to be on a rocking journey.