Sonu Nigam is well-known for his impressive range. But he’s as renowned for his mimicry skills.
Over the years, he has mimicked several of his contemporaries across the board. A throwback video of Sonu singing like Kailash Kher and Kamal Khan is a testament to his vocal range.
Sonu sings like Kailash, Kamal
In the throwback video, in which Sonu is in a conversation with actor Johnny Lever, he demonstrates his mimicry skills. First, he croons Allah Ke Bande from Shashanka Ghosh’s 2003 Arshad Warsi-starrer Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II. But he sings that song in the original singer Kailash Kher’s voice. It was Kailash’s breakthrough song in Bollywood.
Even comic legend Johnny Lever cracks up listening to Sonu sing in Kailash’s voice. He says in admiration, “Kamaal hai,” to which Sonu says that he can sing in Kamal Khan’s voice as well. Sonu then sings two of Kamal’s popular songs in the latter’s voice: Laga Prem Rog from Salman Khan’s 2005 comedy Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya and O O Jaane Jana from Salman’s 1998 romantic comedy Pyar Kiya Toh Darna Kya. Yet again, he gets the mimicry spot on, much to the amusement of Johnny Lever.
Reactions to Sonu’s mimicry
Instagram users commented on the throwback video posted by a fan account of Sonu. Many compared his vocal range to how Artificial Intelligence operates today.
A user commented, “AI took lessons from him.” Another wrote, “Bro abused AI in 7000 different languages (laughing with tears emoji).” A third user commented, “Pehla aadmi hai jo AI ki job khayega (he’s the first man to snatch AI’s job away) (smile emoji).” Another wrote, “An AI Human – Sonu Nigam (fire emoji).” A fan said, “He was AI before AI.” Another wrote, “Artificial intelligence (AI) software committed suicide (laughing with tears emoji).”
Sonu Nigam most recently sang Ro Lain De, a tearjerker composed by Pritam and written by Amitabh Bhattacharya, that was used in Karan Johar’s hit romantic comedy Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.