MUMBAI: Singer Sonu Nigam and percussionist Bickram Ghosh have teamed up for a collaborative album titled 'Music Room'. The duo first began work on the album in 2010. It will have seven songs, including a Gujarati track, which has been penned by Shruti Pathak.

Reminiscing on how the duo met, Nigam said, "Bickram and I met via a common friend in 2009 and right from the first time we met, we got into a comfort zone and thought we should work together and that is how our friendship began."

According to Ghosh, right from the beginning, both of them realised that they worked in a similar fashion. "By the second or third day, we finished composing three or four songs. Both of us realised that we worked super fast and enjoyed working with each other. I also observed that Sonu, as an artiste, is extremely intelligent as he knows that he cannot be static, that was one thing I really liked about him," said Ghosh.

When asked why they have added a Gujarati song to their album, Ghosh said, "It is music; let us not limit ourselves to a single language. We come across people who listen to many other languages." The duo recently got nominated in the long list of Oscars along with AR Rahman for their work in the film 'Jal'. Neither thought that their names would appear on the list and they are both hopeful of not just making it to the final five, but also of winning the Academy Award for India. "Suddenly people are now waking up to the film. No doubt that the people loved the film and we even got positive responses, but then it did not do well commercially," explained Nigam.

The duo was asked to create music that was never heard before, thus they combined Indian and International sounds with a lot of percussion. "We made music that took the story forward and we knew something special was happening, but did not expect such responses," elaborated Ghosh.

Nigam hopes that after a year of controversies, being recognized for his work by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will add another dimension to his career as right now he works only for passion. "Initially, when you start your career it is about money, livelihood and a lot of other things, but now it is all about passion. This is the time that I am enjoying the most," stated the 41 year old.