Balle Bollywood! Tuning it up with Punjabi music
By Reya Mehrotra
Even for those who are not familiar with the Punjabi language, Bajre Da Sitta might still ring a bell. In 2021, the catchy number went viral over social media platforms, particularly on Instagram, where thousands of videos trended as users made Reels using the song, even though no one knew what it meant or where it came from.
Bajre Da Sitta was originally sung by sisters Parkash Kaur and Surinder Kaur Punjabi, two prominent Punjabi folk singers of the 20th century. The song was remade by artistes Rashmeet Kaur and Deep Kalsi and released in January last year, bringing it back to life.
In fact, many folk renditions of the Kaur sisters like Lathe Di Chadar, Madhaniyan and Kaala Doria find their remakes even today in Bollywood films and Punjabi music albums.
Fine tuning
In the pre-Independence era and even before films had taken proper shape, folk songs sung by communities and people of villages were hugely popular and the chief sources of entertainment and, at times, spread in popularity by word of mouth. Undeniably, the Kaur sisters played a poignant role in bringing Punjabi folk music to the centre stage.
Till a major part of the 20th century, Punjabi folk music greatly derived from kafis (classical form of Sufi music) and poems written by writers and philosophers. Poems by writer and poet Amrita Pritam, who wrote Main Tenu Phir Milangi, Bulleh Shah’s Dama Dam Mast Qalandar, Mohan Singh, who was known as one of the pioneers of Punjabi poetry, became popular.
Punjabi folk singer Gurmeet Bawa, who recently passed away, too was a pioneer in bringing folk music to the fore. One of the first women artistes to perform on Doordarshan, Bawa was known for her 45-second hek or alaap during a song’s opening, which was the longest ever by a Punjabi folk singer.
Around the 1970s and 80s, Jagjit Singh, along with his wife Chitra Singh, popularised Punjabi Tappe, a form of semi-classical music. Known for his popular ghazals, Singh also sung several Punjabi songs like Chadeyan Di Jhoon Buri and Sare Pind Ch Puare Paye, among others.
In the 1990s, Daler Mehndi brought the dawn of a new era for the Punjabi music industry. His groovy numbers like Na Na Na Na Re, Tunak Tunak Tun and Bolo Ta Ra Ra became instant hits and arrived at a time when non-film music was thriving in India. The early 2000s saw several hit albums from other Punjabi singers like Sukhbir Randhawa and Malkit Singh.
Even before that, Bollywood would often rock on Punjabi beats with superstars belonging to the community like Dharmendra, Shammi Kapoor, Jitendra and Rajesh Khanna ruling the industry. The 1952 film Naya Daur had Mohammed Rafi’s Ude Jab Jab Zulfe Teri; 1962 film Vallah Kya Baat Hai had a song, Teri Meri Ek Jindri, sung by Asha Bhonsle; and 1975 film Pratigya had Mohammed Rafi’s Jat Yamla Pagla Deewana; and so on.
Meanwhile, Mehndi explains the rise of Punjabi music post his arrival. “The current Punjabi music breakthrough across the globe was the result of Bolo Ta Ra Ra in 1995 which kept creating a firm foundation with Dardi Rab Rab, Balle Balle and finally with Tunak Tunak sealing the foundation as “ready to rule”. Indian films sparsely had Punjabi words and music in the pre-Daler Mehndi era, but after Bolo Ta Ra, the shift was a leap—‘The Mehndism’ was here to stay and not only did it stay but created aspirations for the wannabe Punjabi singers, leading to the current parallel Punjabi music and film industry,” he shares.
Punjabi music really picked up in Bollywood from the early 2010s with popular songs like Gippy Grewal’s Angrezi Beat that was adopted for Deepika Padukone-starrer Cocktail, Honey Singh’s numerous hits, and subsequent adoption of Punjabi songs into films like Guru Randhawa’s Suit Suit (remixed in 2017 film Hindi Medium), Malkit Singh’s Gur Nalon Ishq Mitha (remixed in 2019 film Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga). More recently, songs like Na Jaa by Pav Dharia (adopted in 2021 film Sooryavanshi), Sukhbir Randhawa’s Sauda Khara Khara (used in 2019 film Good Newwz) and Maninder Buttar’s Sakhiyan (used in 2021 film Bell Bottom) are the latest Punjabi exports to Bollywood. Popular Diljeet Dosanjh’s song Ikk Kudi, too, is a revisiting of the 1980 song Ik Kudi Jehda Naa Mohabbat by playback singer Mahendra Kapoor.
Mehndi adds that two decades ago, through Na Na Na Na Re in Mrityudata, Nach Baby Nach Kudi in Khauff and then Kudiyan Shehr Diyan in Arjun Pandit, Punjabi songs in Bollywood had made a strong presence. “Every film had to have a Daler Mehndi bhangra pop flavour. Today, Punjabi music is finding its foothold everywhere. I recently sang for a Gujarati film as the producer wanted my appeal and recall value,” he adds.
It is not only post-2010s that Punjabi music was being adopted into Bollywood. Filmmaker Yash Chopra, who hailed from Punjab, had included music inspired by several folk songs into his films including Lo Aa Gayi Lohri Ve in his 2004 film Veer Zara.
Songs of resistance
A year of farmer protests saw several well-known and big names from the Punjabi music industry, Punjabi actors and comedians supporting the community and stand in solidarity. This further motivated the farmers and amplified their voices. Actor and singer Diljeet Dosanjh showed solid support to the protests and even engaged in a Twitter spat with actor Kangana Ranaut, who had tweeted about an elderly Sikh woman. Throughout the tweet-war, he responded in his mother tongue—Punjabi, showing how he was proud of his roots.
Several other artistes from Punjab including Mika Singh, Parmish Verma, Mankirt Aulakh, Harf Cheema, Gurdas Mann, Sidhu Moose Wala, Jazzy B, Gippi Grewal, Guru Randhawa and more showed solidarity on social media and some like Babbu Mann even visited the protest sites to support the protesting farmers. Many artistes who work from countries like Canada, UK garnered international attention to the issue as Punjabi-Canadian MPs like Tim Uppal and Gurratan Singh raised voices against excessive use of force against the protestors.
Kanwar Grewal, a Punjabi singer from a farmer family especially struck a chord with his musical compositions about the farmer protests. The music videos he released during the stir showed visuals from the protesting site. His music acted as a unifying factor for the protestors and as a motivation. Pecha, Ailaan, Aakhri Faisla and Sek are some of his compositions about the protest that stir many emotions and touch the listener. They talk about the plight of farmers, their undying spirit and farmer deaths. The lyrics of his songs also became rallying slogans and anthems for the farmers. His song Sek was a tribute to the farmers who lost lives during the protest.
Like Grewal, in October 2020, musician Bir Singh, too, composed a song Mitti de Puttro Ve, a song that captures the scenes from the protest.
However, not all support went in the right direction. Controversy sparked after Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu was accused and arrested for inciting violence during a farmers’ rally on Republic Day. But this was not the first time that Punjabi music became songs of resistance. Back in 20th century, poet Avtar Singh Sandhu, better known as Pash, was assassinated in 1988 because he rose his voice against Khalistanis through his poems like Sab Ton Khattarnak.
Owing to the popularity of Punjabi music, several political parties in the region have also tried making Punjabi artistes a face of their parties. In December 2021, controversial singer Sidhu Moose Wala joined the Congress. He had actively participated in the farmers’ protest. Another Punjabi folk singer Buta Mohammad joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Singers Anmol Gagan Maan and Balkar Sidhu have joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Music to the ears
Adopting popular Punjabi numbers and popular Punjabi artistes in Bollywood films has become the recipe for success. Popular 2019 song Coka was remixed by Badshaah and adopted in Sonakshi Sinha’s Khandaani Shafakhana. Punjabi and Hindi song writer and music producer Sukhdeep Singh, popular by his stage name, Sukh-E Muzical Doctorz, shares, “I guess the fact that Punjabi music is so versatile when it comes to genres, mood, and feelings; there is a Punjabi song for every possible combination you can think of, and I believe that’s the beauty of it. On a related note, I feel Bollywood placements open us to a new market that may not be accustomed to Punjabi as their native language. According to the data too, Punjabi is the most streamed second language in the country and in the last few years, there has been an exponential growth in terms of its consumption andproduction. Punjabi songs that were once considered regional are now trending on global charts, taking over social media, being played in clubs as well as weddings across the world—it’s an unstoppable force.” He currently has several Bollywood projects in hand.
Singer and actor Harrdy Sandhu seconds Sukh-E. “I think relatability could be one of the reasons that filmmakers are attracted to Punjabi music since it has reached a level of popularity that no other language except Hindi has achieved,” he says.
One of the most prominent music directors of Punjabi music industry, Arvindr Khaira, who has helmed songs like Akshay Kumar starrer Filhall and Filhall 2, Harrdy Sandhu’s Kya Baat Ay and Arijit Singh’s Pachtaoge, to name a few, shares why India is witnessing a Punjabi boom. “In the last few months specifically, Bollywood music was somewhat on hold due to the lockdown restrictions because even if the songs were ready, shooting videos was extremely difficult and India is a video-first market compared to the west. Hence, independent Punjabi music got a chance to shine through and gain extra momentum. The northern belt of India is one of the biggest consumers of Bollywood content and featuring Punjabi actors or music is a no brainer,” he says.
Khaira adds that with the Punjabi diaspora in countries like the UK, US, Australia and Canada, films have a higher probability of performing better overseas.
With Punjabi music, non-film music that had become redundant has also revived. Actor Akshay Kumar made his music album debut with Filhall. “Filhall was the first time when a mainstream Bollywood actor was a part of an independent Punjabi single,” says Khaira.
Avadh Nagpal, founder of artiste management firm Artist’s Network, and Sidhantha Jain, marketing manager of Desi Melodies, a music company owned by singer Jaani and Arvindr Khaira, share the reason behind the growth. “The Punjabi music scene has grown multi-fold in recent times due to multiple reasons: the advent of cheaper Internet access, betterment of the quality of music being released, artistes exploring different genres, cross-border collaborations, and of course their inescapable presence on social media. It’s also important to note how artistes market themselves now, gone are the days when they were classified as just singers, lyricists or composers; they’re full-fledged stars now.” They say that Punjabi songs have catchy melodies, easy to learn hooks, and unique lyrics.
Harrdy Sandhu’s Bijlee Bijlee featuring Palak Tiwari garnered millions of views and became popular across borders. He shares, “I think it worked better than any of us anticipated because it sounded fresh. When we were making it in the studio, the approach wasn’t to make a hit, it’s never the intention; we always focus on giving the listeners something new and Jaani’s lyrics combined with BPraak’s music visually presented by Arvindr Khaira did the trick. There’s no one reason that I can account for its success, it’s always a group effort,” says Sandhu.
Daler Mehndi says that keeping in mind the changing times and taste of the audience, his music is evolving too. “The sounds are changing, I have treated Punjabi music with Arabic, rock, hip hop and reggae and there is so much still to do. I started my career singing ghazals in San Francisco, came to India and became its celebrated pop icon. The audience is hungry and is extremely open to all kinds of music. Currently, with all the attention, any and every marriage with Punjabi music is sure to woo hearts,” he adds.
OTT and all that jazz
OTT platforms have played a strong role in bringing regional content to the fore. Major OTT platforms in India have introduced content across Punjabi, South Indian, Marathi and other regional languages owing to the growing popularity and user base of these platforms. Naturally, Punjabi content has made its way into OTT and remains one of the most popular regional contents across platforms.
In September 2021, home-grown video streaming platform ZEE5 forayed into Punjabi content to explore the untapped market of the Punjabi-speaking audience through its initiative Rajj Ke Vekho that brought a series of Punjabi movies, web-series, originals and shows, titles from Zee Studios like Puaada, Qismat 2, Jinne Jamme Saare Nikamme and Fuffad Ji. Owing to this, the platform has witnessed a massive upswing in active subscription numbers with the highest contribution from Punjab and neighbouring states like Haryana Delhi-NCR and Uttar Pradesh. Among these, Ludhiana, Delhi and Chandigarh lead the chart. Hence, Punjab, believes ZEE5, is one of the key markets in northern India, albeit with limited content options in the local language.
Talking about the growth, Manish Kalra, chief business officer, ZEE5 India, shares, “The appetite to consume quality content in their local language is present, and in fact quite high with entertainment being so deeply engraved into the DNA of the Punjabi speaking audience.” He says that for blockbuster Punjabi movies, the response on their platform is tremendous. “Our active subscription numbers have gone through the roof with 126% growth in Punjab, 92% in Haryana and 104% in Chandigarh in the April-September period last year,” he adds.
The year 2021 also saw two series —Tabbar and Grahan, both starring actor Pavan Malhotra in pivotal roles and having a strong storyline with the former being a thriller streaming on SonyLIV and the latter, based on the 1984 Sikh riots, streaming on Disney Plus Hotstar. Bringing stories with strong Sikh lead characters and a good script to the fore in the past decade has also marked a significant shift away from the caricaturish depiction of the community in pop culture earlier.
Kalra of ZEE5 believes that the interest and demand for Punjabi content had always been there, but the category had been underserved, especially in terms of original content on OTT platforms. “ZEE5 will continue to bolster its content slate with bespoke and powerful Punjabi content, and we aim to become a one-stop destination for users to watch high quality Punjabi content, bringing us one step closer to our larger vision of achieving entertainment inclusion for underserved markets,” he adds.
As for Netflix, it has a strong slate for Punjabi content including films like Guddiyan Patole, Qismat, Laatu, Virsa, Bhaji in Problem, and so on, while Amazon Prime Video too has a good portfolio of Punjabi content including titles like Ardaas, Shadaa and Kirpaa: The Sword of Honour, among others.
Carrying the tune
Punjabi content is strengthening across mediums, and not just OTT platforms. In 2020, actor-singer Diljeet Dosanjh’s hilarious video, as he struggled communicating with Alexa, Amazon’s cloud-based voice service, went viral. He asked Alexa to play his song Clash but owing to his Punjabi accent, the smart voice assistant could not catch his words. But be it the reaction of his video or the popularity of Punjabi music, smart speakers Amazon Echo saw its customers growing significantly across Punjab from cities like Amritsar, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Patiala, Jalandhar and so on, in 2021.
In December 2021, Chingari, a short-video app, announced partnership with Desi Crew Digital, a platform for upcoming talents in an effort to enter the Punjabi music market and strengthen Punjabi roots and songs. This would also enable Chingari users to connect with Punjabi songs from rising talented names while Desi Crew Digital will expand its digital base via Chingari’s user base.
Internationally too, the Punjabi music industry is thriving. In 2020, Universal Music India (UMI), a division of Dutch-American multinational music corporation Universal Music Group (UMG), announced an exclusive multi-year, global distribution deal with Desi Melodies. The deal gives UMI the power to distribute all audio recordings from Desi Melodies label catalogue, including past releases, future non-film releases and all other projects, where rights are retained by the label worldwide.
Vinit Thakkar, COO, Universal Music India and South Asia, had said, “The potential for artiste talent and creativity across all regions of India is huge and we are excited to support Desi Melodies in their efforts to bring Punjabi language music to the world and to further establish UMG as the true, authentic home for non-film music talent and success in the region.”
Perhaps, it is the result of the growing portfolio of the Punjab music and content industry that in December 2021, Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi announced that the Punjab government will bring in a proposal to set up Punjab Film Development Council in order to “promote the glorious cultural heritage of the state through films, which are the latest and most effective way of communication nowadays”. He added that it would go a long way in showcasing the rich cultural heritage of Punjab across the globe.
In March this year, Spotify announced plans to make its subscription service available in 36 new languages including Punjabi. According to Spotify Wrapped 2021, a year end campaign where Spotify shares listening trends of the year of each user, Punjabi music shaped 2021.
“The music genre that cemented its place in India’s music industry in the ’90s has humble beginnings in Punjab’s independent music industry that took off all the way back in the late ’50s. Punjabi pop has a rich history, from notable artistes such as Shiv Kumar Batalvi, Jagmohan Kaur and Amar Singh Chamkila to the likes of Diljit Dosanjh, Sunanda Sharma, Harnoor and Sidhu Moose Wala today,” Spotify shares.
According to Spotify, Punjabi Pop features in the list of top 10 music genres in India, for 2021 and that out of the top 10 Spotify playlists this year, three are Punjabi.
According to Spotify Wrapped, the most streamed Punjabi songs in 2021 include Brown Munde by AP Dhillon, Mann Bharryaa 2.0 by BPraak, and Insane by AP Dhillon. Other songs in the top 5 list include Waalian by Harnoor, and Libaas by Kaka, while the most streamed Punjabi artistes this year include Sidhu Moose Wala, AP Dhillon, Gurinder Gill, Diljit Dosanjh and Karan Aujla.
As for the most streamed Punjabi albums, Sidhu Moose Wala’s Moosetape, AP Dhillon’s Not by Chance, and Diljit Dosanjh’s G. O. A. T. emerged on the list.
As per Spotify’s data, Canada is one of the most important diaspora markets for Punjabi artistes and hence musicians such as AP Dhillon, Karan Aujla, Sunanda Sharma, Harrdy Sandhu, Ammy Virk, Mankirt Aulakh, Gurlez Akhtar, Tegi Pannu and Diljit Dosanjh have been featured on Spotify’s Toronto billboard, giving visibility to artistes outside of India. In 2022, the frequency of promoting the Punjabi artiste community internationally is set to increase on their platform, according to Spotify.
Life has come a full circle: Harrdy Sandhu
It was a stellar year for actor, singer and ex-cricketer Hardavinder Singh Sandhu, aka Harrdy Sandhu, in 2021. For one, his Punjabi pop song Bijlee Bijlee featuring actor Palak Tiwari became a huge hit worldwide and crossed 125 million views on YouTube. Secondly, the Punjabi hit song Titliaan that came out in 2020, starring Sandhu and actor Sargun Mehta, was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2021. Last but not the least, he made his Bollywood debut in the much-awaited Kabir Khan film 83, where he played the role of cricketer Madan Lal. The film chronicles India’s first World Cup win in 1983 when the team defeated West Indies in the final.
Sandhu, who was once in the under-19 Indian world cup team, says life has come a full circle as he got the chance to ‘play’ for India yet again, albeit on screen this time. He calls his Bollywood debut ‘pure luck.’ “I am a singer by profession, cricketer by passion, and an actor by chance,” he says.
An ardent cricket fan, he started as a fast bowler and was selected for India’s under-19 cricket world cup team, but he hurt his elbow during training. “I then went to Australia where I drove a taxi to make ends meet and met Sri Lanka’s former cricket physiotherapist who suggested a specific treatment. With hope, I came back to India and made it to Punjab’s Ranji Trophy team,” he says. However, his injury resurfaced and he gave up cricket. He then found solace in singing and began training in Indian classical music. “My first album This Is Hardy Sandhu released in 2012 and there was no turning back,” he adds.
In February 2019 when he was in Chandigarh for a day, he got a call from singer, actor and producer Ammy Virk, who was then one of the first few actors to be confirmed for 83. Virk called Sandhu to meet director Kabir Khan who was then casting for the film. Coincidentally, Madan Lal had coached Sandhu at an NCB camp when the latter was into cricket.
“He was a fast bowler, and I was too, so I thought I can do this. I practised a lot and sent them a video of me bowling as Madan Lal ji, but I didn’t receive a response for a long while. After some days, I got to hear that the team was impressed with the finesse with which I pulled it off and that’s how I became a part of 83.”
As for taking up other Bollywood projects, he says he is taking one opportunity at a time.
Punjabi music is to India, what heartbeat is to life: Daler Mehndi
Singer, songwriter and record producer Daler Mehndi is vastly known for his songs, the most popular ones being the 1990s’ hits Tunak Tunak Tun, Bolo Tara Ra Ra and Na Na Na Na Re. He has remained active through the years and has sung for several blockbuster Hindi movies as well, including the title tracks for Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017), Dangal (2016), Mirzya (2016) and Rang De Basanti (2006). He believes that Punjabi rhythm and music are deeply woven in culture, folk, aesthetics and robustness.
“It has a unique marriage of rawness with urbane; the sound has the flexibility of a ballerina and the power of a war cry, and the ethos of a celebrating heart because of its deep-rootedness in culture and language,” says the 54-year-old artiste.
Mehndi says that the Punjabi music industry is growing every second and that it is a matter of pride. “It’s real and rooted. What heartbeat is to life, Punjabi music is to India and the world now. It’s Guru Nanak Patshah’s blessings on the language and its robust lively celebratory sound,” he says,adding that Punjabi music creators are courageous, and have large hearts and a zeal to create. “Punjabi music creators have a crazy burning passion to create constantly as though there is no tomorrow. It’s not only Punjabi music industry, but this creative energy, which is rising, expanding across languages,” he says.
Like his name that means ‘brave’, Mehndi says that Punjabis are ‘Daler’.
Punjabi isn’t a regional genre anymore: Desi Melodies
Punjabi artistes are complete packages and the value they bring along with a potentially untapped market is tremendous, believe Avadh Nagpal, founder of Artist’s Network, and Sidhantha Jain, marketing manager of Desi Melodies, one of the most prominent music companies of Punjab, that has released hits like Coka, Filhall, Titliaan, Baarish Ki Jaaye and more. They share that given the bankability and popularity of Punjabi artistes and songs, it makes sense for filmmakers to be drawn to the industry.
“Punjabi isn’t a regional language or genre anymore, thanks to the artistes and songs that are making headlines in the global ecosystem. From YouTube to Instagram, it’s difficult to find a chart or trend that doesn’t involve a Punjabi name. In the numbers’ game, it makes absolute sense for filmmakers to experiment and apply the best formula that maximises their returns. Betting on Punjabi stars is not an option for failure,” they add.