Singer Sonu Nigam has worked on many songs with composer AR Rahman and during the late 1990s, their collaboration on films like Taal and Dil Se, earned them many fans. In a recent interview, Sonu recalled those days of recording with Rahman and how the composer took him by surprise when he gave him the complete liberty to sing as he liked. Sonu, who was used to a certain way of getting instructions from other composers, saw this as a unique and liberating experience, so much so that when he found Pritam getting too involved in the details, he called them out for the same. In a chat with O2 India, Sonu said, "AR Rahman gives you so much liberty. You don't feel like you are singing in a high pressure environment." He recalled that back in those days, Pritam had just made his debut as a music composer in a duo called Jeet-Pritam. Sonu was recording a song for their first film Tere Liye when he found that Pritam would get involved in the nitty-gritty as he sang. "Pritam comes from a different school of thought. He goes into the nitty-gritties, and he isn't wrong. Everyone has their own style. I remember telling Pritam that you are just the opposite of AR Rahman. I told him that Rahman is such a renowned composer and he does not bother anyone, and you are just splitting hairs. He was perhaps offended by this then but I said what I was experiencing," he said. ALSO READ | ‘Don’t know how AR Rahman could make such a bad song’: Sonu Nigam shreds ‘Chiggy Wiggy’ Sonu said that he said it with love but Pritam, perhaps, got offended. "I said with love that you are splitting hairs. AR Rahman does not say anything. He just asks you to sing, and then he says 'okay done'," he said and added, "Every singer will tell you that Rahman does not bother any singer. That's his special quality." Sonu has collaborated on many songs with Pritam as well, like "Allah Maaf Kare" from Desi Boyz, "Nagada" from Jab We Met among many others.
