Sonu Nigam’s First Recorded Song - Hum Toh Chhaila Ban Gaye from Talaash
- Hansa
- Mar 24
- 2 min read
Year of release: 1992
TV serial: Talaash
Lyricist: Yogesh
Composer: Usha Khanna
This song is not only a rare gem, but also a page out of history. It is Sonu's first full song ever to be recorded in Mumbai and marks his official entry into Bollywood. It is recorded in Gitanjali Studio, which is Hemant Kumar's studio. The recording is done live with 6-7 musicians, in a single take.
Here's what Kavita Chhibber says in one of her brilliantly penned articles - “Singing superstar Sonu Nigam thoughtfully sent me an email reminding me that he started his career officially in the Bombay film industry with a song in Hrishi da’s last venture, a TV serial called Talaash... Sonu said he considers it a lucky omen that he began his career with a song for Hrishi da.”
In 2019, when Sonu casually mentions in an interview that his first recorded full song is ‘Hum Toh Chhaila Ban Gaye’ for a television serial called Talaash, my own talaash for the song quietly begins.
Now television serials don’t make things easy. Talaash has 26 episodes, and I have no clue in which episode the song is. So I do what any determined music lover would do.
For the next few days, while doing the dishes or cooking, Talaash plays in the background in my kitchen. And then suddenly in Episode 9, my talaash finally ends. I am cooking dinner, when the sound of the dholak begins and my ears go – ting! There it is. The full song.
I can barely contain my excitement and immediately tell Sonu that I have found this song. He too is surprised and says - "Really? Where did you find it?"
The song is picturised on the well-known actor Rajendra Gupta. Known for his intense acting, Rajendra Gupta plays a serious role in the entire drama. This is one of the few times in the serial that we see him letting his hair down and enjoying himself. One cannot help but notice how well his acting and Sonu's zealous singing complement each other.
It is difficult to believe this is the very first song of Sonu's to be released. He is only 18 years old when he records it. But the confidence with which it is sung, the perfection with which each and every word is emoted, show that even back then, he is a master of his craft.
On his channel on YouTube, Sonu writes – "I was 18 years and 5 months old and this is technically my first full song recording in the city of Mumbai so this is very special to me..."
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