Daler Mehndi rips into the current crop of Punjabi pop singers for projecting a false image of the state
Jaspreet Nijher (BOMBAY TIMES; May 26, 2018)

At this year’s Cannes Film Festival, on May 11, as the Indo-Hollywood production 5 Weddings premiered, one person who was beaming in absentia was singer Daler Mehndi. He has rendered the title track U U Yeah in the film starring Bo Derek, Nargis Fakhri, Rajkummar Rao and Casey Clark. “I couldn’t have been happier. Even if I couldn’t make it to Cannes, my voice was there,” says Daler, whose costumes have also found place in a recently opened interactive music museum launched at Bengaluru.

The veteran pop singer seems to be doing a lot of title tracks of late — he has sung the title tracks of at least four upcoming Bollywood film releases. Giving credit to his classical training that still holds him in good stead in the sea of younger, pop singers, Mehndi says the base of his music since childhood was Gurbani. “I don’t know why music directors are giving me title tracks, but I do think that it’s my strong base from the formal music training, and roots in Gurbani, the ragas, qawwali, Sufi, ghazals that have held my music since the last 19 years.”

Daler’s track Tunak Tunak Tun in 1998 was one of the first in the genre of Punjabi pop music. When asked to comment on the current scenario, he comes down sharply on the new generation’s disregard for the soul of music. “It is sad that for a state that is heavily into music, modern singers are exploiting lyrics to portray an image of Punjab that is false. Daru, kudiyan, bandookan, gadiyan…is that all Punjab is about? To those who don’t know this state, the image broadcasted through music is this,” rues the singer. He also points out another paradox when he says, “Though Punjabi music production is highest among regional music, unfortunately Punjabi films don't sell on their music, like Bollywood does.”

Calling modern singers ‘copycats’, Mehndi says, “We have a generation of copycats now, busy sending out images of being cool dudes, wearing fake imitations of brands, being high on drugs, and gathering fake online views.” Despite modernity, the singer says he is proud of his signature style. “The only thing different about me was the weight I had gained over the years. I had gone from 72 kgs to being 92. But now, I have shed that too and gone back to my weight of 25 years ago,”

Mehndi laughs.