Sonam Topden, the Bollywood singer who conquers heart of Ukhrul

EKHON | UKHRUL: What do you say to a celebrity you know nothing about. The truth! And that’s what we did. We came clean of our ignorance to Sonam Topden, a visiting performer from Nepal at the Tangkhul Naga Film Festival 2023 in Manipur’s border district of Ukhrul. When we met him, we had no assumption nor pre-conceive notion about his status, his work, his profile nor his fan following. But we dare say that we did get a good deal out of it. Since we have no hang up about his celebrity status, we met him as an equal and created a rapport that allow us to be at ease when we converse.

At face value and on closer look, Sonam Topden is hands down a genuine person with a heart of gold. He maintained his sweet demeanour throughout our interaction that was filled with laughter and easy camaraderie. He has a well-balanced head on his shoulder perhaps a stint at a monastery for close to eight years as a kid has positive influence on him. The singer-song writer and actor also gave us a teeny glimpse of his deeper side, might I say, spiritual side when he said, “We all came from violence. Where there is violence, there is peace.” 

He is indeed easy to be drawn to and no surprise to see a good fan following. This candid conversation has its downside thanks to our ill preparedness. The audio is far from perfect as we had no mic on us because we had no pre-plan to meet and interview anyone, especially not him. It was a chance meeting or perhaps meant to be.

But it is a fact that we met him as a complete stranger, and we went home with a feeling of fondness for who he is as a person. For whatever reason, the organizing team of the Tangkhul Naga Film Festival found someone as random as Sonam Topden who sings Bollywood songs to entertain people who are majorly an English listening audience. Yet, his facial affinity with the local, his cuteness quotient and finally his god-gift talent captured the hearts of the people. We are certain that he went home with a wealth of new fans and memories for another time.