Though the singer rues the lack of variety and quality in playback these days, his personal ventures seem to be keeping his spirits up. While Chanda Ki Doli, his last album that saw him turn composer, did not scale the heights as the peppy mass appeal of Deewana, Jaan and Mausum did, Nigam is upbeat about his first semi-classical venture Classically Mild. “At this stage of my career, it is both important and convenient to experiment. The concept of a semi-classical album had been in my mind for a long time and things fell into place in the last two-and-a-half-years,” says Nigam. The apprehension proved otherwise says Nigam. “Most producers would think I am out of my mind to contemplate a semi-classical album when hip hop and the likes apparently sell. But then it has seemed to work as there have been repeat orders in just the second week of release,” explains Nigam. In fact, the very hesitation to experiment, both with voices and genres, have left the country with little except remixes. “India is left with very few true patrons of music proper. No wonder we have no bright voices coming up through private albums,” says the singer who broke even in playback with his chart-topping private albums.

But then, there seems to be the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Reality shows, according to the singer, have stepped in where music companies should have been. “Be it Sa Re Ga Ma Pa or Indian Idol the shows are writing fairytales for real. It’s not always important to consider whether the winners are kicking up a storm with playback, it’s important to understand that they are no more faceless,” counters the singer when asked if talent show finds have really made a mark in Bollywood. Nigam finds it inspiring that talents don’t go unrecognised in a country where music is an ‘underrated commodity’. “People are always talking about cricketers and then film stars. The reality shows have given lots of people better lives than they would have had otherwise,” says Nigam. However, does the singer find the popular vote format convincing enough? “It’s important for the judges not to turn off the audience. If you squabble like obnoxious kids, public loses faith in your judgement and applies its own biases to vote,” explains the singer.