Who can forget the iconic songs Ab Mujhe Raat Din, Deewana Tera or Bijuriya? These cult classics from Deewana and Mausam, rendered by Sonu Nigam, continue to resonate with music lovers even today. As both the albums turned 25 recently, the singer feels “grateful and overwhelmed”.

Sharing how the songs from the two records “are ageing like fine wine”, he says, “Although Kismet (his 1998 album) brought me in the pop scene, dynamically changing my image from a boy-next-door to a singing-dancing pop star, Mausam and Deewana in 1999 just nailed it for me. It’s been 25 years and I don’t remember doing a concert and not performing songs from these albums.”

The tracks in both the albums were quite diverse — from uptempo numbers to soulful, romantic ballads. Sharing how they gave him a chance to showcase his versatility as an artiste, Nigam says, “Back in 1999, I was a restless kid, wanting to experiment, try newer and unattempted genres, showcase my vocal skills, challenge the dancer in me and just have fun. The interesting part was that both the albums released around the same time and had the same artiste, but both went on to become chartbusters, as the genres of songs were poles apart. Mausam had songs ranging from Indian and western classical to ballads, to folk to pop, to dance, etc.”

As he goes on to talk about his favourite numbers from the two albums, the singer says if he were to revisit them now, “everything will change, as that Sonu doesn’t exist today”.

He shares, “I love all the songs. People have their favourites, mainly from Deewana. From Kuchh Tum Socho to Iss Kadar Pyaar Hai, besides the popular ones such as Ab Mujhe Raat Din and Deewana Tera. There was a special song in Mausam called Yesterday Was Tomorrow. It had no words, just sargam in different ragas, composed amazingly by Ravi Pawar. It was really special to me, as I had no formal training in classical music.”

Looking back at learning his signature steps for Bijuriya from late dance legend Saroj Khan, Nigam recalls, “I requested her to choreograph the songs keeping (actor) Govinda in mind. So, Saroj ji said, ‘Chaliye, kamar kas lijiye’. And I slogged to learn the steps, which, till today, are synonymous to me. I feel so grateful to see everyone dance along when I perform the song at my shows.”