“Meet us at Citicenter food-court.”

That is the call I am waiting for since last four days. Since the day I have come to know that Sonu Nigam is coming to Dubai to perform live together with ‘Junoon’ for his show ‘Jaan yehi dosti hai’, I am after the organizers- Mr. And Mrs. Naresh Oberoi - to arrange for an interview with him. Somehow our stars just don’t seem to match for quite a while. The meeting that I am looking forward to with great expectations isn’t materializing for some reason or other. Finally that moment is arriving. It isn’t going to be a traditional sit-down, jot-down kind of an interview. Since Sonu is busy doing his last moment shopping, I am supposed to join him and try to ‘make’ an interview out of it.

I reach Citicenter food-court at 3-15 p.m. Even after circling the whole place, there is no sign of Sonu. Just on the verge of exasperation, I suddenly spot him in a corner. He is hiding half of his face under a baseball cap. ‘Price of fame’- I think amusedly! In his short-sleeved, skin-hugging red tea-shirt and tight back jeans, he looks just like any other teen-ager. Mind you, he is all of twenty-seven years old but he looks at least ten years younger. He is enjoying a late afternoon meal with his family members. I walk up to the table and lightly tap Nareshji on his shoulder. He introduces me effusively to everybody. For a while I become the reluctant topic of conversation. ‘Child specialist, Hindi film music researcher, newspaper columnist etc., etc.’ Everybody is suitably impressed – Sonu included.  I am wondering how I am going to find him alone.

That moment comes soon. For next four hours I am moving with Sonu – in Citicenter, in Jumbo Sony showroom discussing things as varied as health-foods, wrist-wraps, over-head projectors, flat-screen TVs and DVD players. He is an animated speaker and speaks passionately and expressively about any topic. And God, is he an excellent mimic. During the course of our conversation he does hilarious take-offs on many show-biz personalities. No wonder, he brings in so much of variety and versatility into his singing repertoire.

Yes, in the midst of all this small talk I manage to make him speak up on his life and music. He speaks with confidence and sincerity. His views on music especially speak of his analytical ability which I think separates him from others. In one of my articles, I had once referred to him as the perfect musical bridge between traditional past and trendy future. Today’s meeting just confirms my views.

Here are the excerpts of this truly disjointed ‘interview’. (If you don’t find any questions about his filmi entry, it’s just because I haven’t asked him anything about it.