Dosanjh
Chaya Unnikrishnan (DNA; August 20, 2015)

After Honey Singh, Badshah and Gippy Grewal. singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh is the latest import from Punjab to Bollywood. Diljit, who is a popular musician in Punjab, turned actor with The Lion Of Punjab, but it was with Jatt And Juliet that he became a hit. And now, Diljit is all set to make his debut in Bollywood with Abhishek Chaubey’s Udta Punjab opposite Kareena Kapoor Khan. “For me, meeting Kareena was a big thing, acting with her is a dream come true. She is such a dedicated actor, goes and diligently checks her scene on the monitor after every shoot. I learnt a lot from her,” gushes Diljit who will be playing a cop in the film. “What I liked about the role is that the cop is close to reality unlike the one I played in Jatt And Juliet 2, which was a romcom. I have seen Abhishek’s Ishqiya and Dedh Ishqiya and it was very nice working with him,” says Diljit.

Interestingly, though he is a singer, Diljit will not have any songs to his credit in the film. “I have been getting offers from Bollywood for songs accompanied with a small appearance in films, but I am not interested in that. I am doing well for myself in Punjab and I don’t want to do something just for the heck for it in Bollywood. The fact that I was not asked to sing appealed to me,” he says. Ask him about the trend of Punjabi singer-actors flooding Bollywood and he says it all boils down to box-office figures. “Lately, Punjabi films are doing good, and everybody has an eye on them. However, for me what matters is the role. Udta Punjab is based in Punjab, I play a Punjabi cop, so it makes sense,” he states.

Besides his acting debut, Diljit is also making news for his song Tung Tung, which he has sung for Akshay Kumar in Singh Is Bliing. “When I went for the recording I didn’t know I was singing for Akshay. I have always wanted to work with Sneha Khanvalkar and was trying to meet her for Punjabi songs, but it never happened. Prabhu sir (Prabhudeva) and Jaggi called me for a Hindi song. When I realised it was for Singh Is Bling and Sneha is the composer I was really glad,” smiles Diljit who is going places having bagged the endorsement for a cola drink too.

He, however, is not in a hurry to make a place for himself in Bollywood. He would rather wait and see the response for Udta Punjab, before signing another film. “My Punjabi singles have been doing well on UK charts. My goal is to make a Punjabi song that becomes a worldwide hit just like the Korean Gangnam Style did,” he says.