Sukhwinder Singh said- I will not take money for singing in films, these things were spread about him/her

Recently Ram Gopal Varma gave a statement that the song of ‘Jai Ho’ was composed by Sukhwinder and not Rahman, although you also denied it, but did such things have any effect on your relationship with Rahman?
Not at all, we met two days after that news and we didn’t even talk about it. We watched ‘Chamkeela’ together. Director Imtiaz Ali was also with us. I even kissed Rahman after watching ‘Chamkeela’. The truth is that Ram Gopal Varma had nothing to do with the song ‘Jai Ho’.

Your song with Rahman has also been released in Dhanush’s film ‘Ryan’. You guys have created history with ‘Jai Ho’, but how has your relationship strengthened over the years?
I was the one who offered this song to Rahman. One day I told him/her, ‘I was listening to your Tamil songs and in between the songs of Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films have been superhit in Hindi too, like Bahubali, Pushpa, Kantara, KGF etc. I told him/her that the songs in his/her language shine a lot, but the Hindi ones do not shine as much. he/she asked, why, to which I replied that those songs are not written with that much intensity.’ Then I directly asked him/her for the Hindi slot of Tamil. The next day he/she called me early in the morning and recorded the song, Dhanush was also with him/her. It was also released immediately. Rahman has his/her own style. I and Rahman meet a lot. Let me tell you an interesting thing, when my struggle increased, one day after listening to the songs of Rangeela, I requested music director Brij Bhushan (husband of Madhubala’s sister Madhura) ji and met Rahman. Rehman called me immediately and then after Chaiya Chaiya the series started.

What is your opinion on the pressure of winning on the contestants in the culture of music based reality shows? Though in the past we have got singers like Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal and Arijit from these shows only?
When children are sent to music reality shows, their mentors and parents have to balance music and studies in their lives. The singers you named are singers of 15-20 years ago. I see a lot of aggression in today’s children. There used to be passion in reality shows of that time, there was no fear. Today’s contestants are more afraid of losing. I wonder why the winners of musical reality shows of the past several years are not seen anywhere else? Because only one aspect of them is given attention.

What was the most difficult phase in your musical journey?
The most difficult time was when I did not have money to pay the rent. However, at that time, I never felt the sorrow of what would happen to me. In those days, I used to live in Juhu and even then, three sevadars used to accompany me. However, in times of trouble, I used to get ten to fifteen thousand for a show and at the last moment, work would always be done. In those days, I used to walk a lot. Many times, I have walked from the town to Juhu. I never had to go hungry because we belong to that community where langars are served and these are not only served in the Gurudwara but also in homes. Anyway, I have grown up in langars since childhood. When I was young, I was dedicated to Sri Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple). I was named Sitara there. Later, I used to sing Gurbani there, which after coming into the world of music, I also sang in Halla Bol. In those days, I used to eat bananas and practice by doing sit-ups on the roof of the house.