Singer Sukhwinder Singh appeals to lyricists to refrain from using expletives in songs; adds that the music industry is his family and he would never want anything bad to happen to it
Nikita Deb (HINDUSTAN TIMES; November 24, 2019)

One of the most popular singers of Bollywood, Sukhwinder Singh, has been enthralling audiences for almost three decades. With superhit songs such as Chaiyya Chaiyya (Dil Se; 1998), Mitwa (Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India; 2001), Bunty Aur Babli (Bunty Aur Babli; 2005), it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Sukhwinder was ruling the music scene then. But even now, the singer doesn’t miss a chance to mesmerise his listeners. With his latest hits, Isaaqbaazi (Zero; 2018), Kar Har Maidan Fateh (Sanju; 2018), and more recently, Chammo from Housefull 4, Sukhwinder seems to be as relevant as ever. The singer talks to us about his near 30-year-old career, if he would ever sing a remix, and how he keeps reinventing himself. Excerpts:

Your recent release in Housefull 4, has over 15 million views on YouTube…
Film kaafi badnaam ho rahi thi (laughs), but when I watched it, mujhe toh bada mazaa aaya. Every song that I sing cannot be a great one, but a lot of my songs are hits and even superhits. Every song can’t win an Oscar, right?

The film didn’t get great reviews. Do you think the reviews of a film affect the music, too?
Nowadays, a few people have turned social media into a tamasha and not a resource. Social media is a great resource where you can say anything independently and freely, dil khol ke. But you can’t say anything without limits. You can’t abuse or use bad words. There are a lot of people who feel that they should do something new, so they resort to doing negative things. I am not saying that Housefull 4 Mughal-e-Azam (1960) ke level ki bani hai or Sanju ke level ki hai. But when I went to watch the film, there were barely any seats available, which clearly means that the film did good business. The makers put in a lot of effort, too, and the canvas is also big.

After so many years of being in the business, how do you keep reinventing yourself?
For that, you need to actually avoid a lot of things. Humare film industry mein kitna glamour hai and some of our activities are very aggressive. But the most important thing about the film and music industry is the creativity. Along with that, there are a lot of different branches of it. There is aggression, insecurity, greed and impatience but all of them live under the same roof of creativity. I tried to find consistency in this. I started working on that. Even before Chaiyya Chaiyya released, I had started following this pattern. When I was in England and my albums would come out, I always looked for that consistency. I was always very aware of aggression, insecurity and everything else. After Chaiyaa Chaiyya, I waited for about 70 to 80 days for my next song. Along with Om Shanti Om (2007) came Chak De! India in the same year, but I sang only three songs in that year. Most of those songs were nominated at award functions. Many people said I was very picky and I was also appreciated, but I remained quiet. And that ended up suiting me a lot. My last song was Kar Har Maidan Fateh, and after a year I sang for Housefull 4. But I am relaxed and now, I am waiting for three or four good movies to come my way. I want to sing more. I have three to four more good movies with good songs coming out. I don’t really ask the names of movies when I get offers. I concentrate on the content of the song. I am really satisfied right now.

What is your take on the trend of remixes that has become ever so popular now?
I’ve always had one big problem with this trend — original composers not being credited for their songs. So, whenever I was asked to speak about it, even during my concerts in India or abroad, I would always bring up this topic. I have been speaking about this for seven to eight years now. Thankfully, this issue has now been solved. Another thing, that really bothers me, is the usage of vulgar and bad words in songs. I feel that is really wrong. I have always maintained that if films can be censored, why can’t songs? People keep saying why do I keep involving myself in these battles, but to them I say, ‘the music industry is my family. And I can’t see wrong things happening in my family’.

As far as singing a remix is concerned, I would love to sing a remake of a Kishore Kumar song because he was my favourite (artiste). But one thing is for sure — when I sing a remix, it won’t be like the usual songs. It will be very special.