Sonu Nigam recalls his first meeting with Sajjad Ali

KARACHI: Pakistan and India are not exactly buddies, but if you see it from Sonu Nigam’s eyes, there is little room for anything but appreciation between artists of the two countries. Being a brilliant musician and singer himself, Nigam can easily recognize good music when he hears it, and is not shy to express his love for it either. From Pakistan’s ‘paint-wala’ singer to Nescafe’s Bol Hu, the Indian artist has been full of praises for the local music industry. In a recent Instagram post, Sonu Nigam recalled his first meeting with Pakistani singer Sajjad Ali.

“This picture is from 19th March when Adel Farooq took us to check and assess Atif Ali’s studio for the first digital Live concert that we eventually did on 22nd Mar. Incidentally one of the most respected singers and musicians of all times, and my personal favourite @thesajjadali bhai was there too with his son and it was so sweet of him to wait till I arrive so we may meet for the first time in our lives. And then we chatted for an hour and a half. Sharing some memorable pictures of that beautiful evening,” Nigam wrote in his throwback post.

“For people who don’t know, his ‘Katna Nai‘ is one of my family’s most favourite songs and so was covered by my exceptionally talented sister @teeshanigam. But before that, I wanted to go about it absolutely respectfully and thus I called Sajjad bhai to seek his permission for the same. It was very very gracious of him to not just give us the permission for the same but not even charge for it! That’s called true graciousness.”

Sajjad Ali, too, reciprocated the sentiment by reposting the picture posted by Sonu Nigam Nigam. “It was a great pleasure meeting you too @sonunigamofficial – One of the most sureela (melodious) singers of our time,” he replied.