(Web Desk) : To the uninitiated, Dosanjh is an incredibly popular Punjabi singer who last week made his debut on Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show.
The 40-year-old proudly sits atop what is known as the “Punjabi wave”, a new generation of artists melding homegrown Punjabi music with rap and hip-hop.
Introduced by Fallon as “the biggest Punjabi artist on the planet”, Dosanjh – dressed in traditional attire – performed his hits Born to Shine and G.O.A.T in front of a packed audience.
“Few seconds into it and everyone was dancing,” says Sucharita Tyagi, a film critic who was present at the show. “You should have seen the faces of the house band – they were mind-blown.”
Back in India, Dosanjh is also recognised as versatile actor who sings in all his films, as well as an accomplished producer.
And to others who may never have seen his films or followed his music, he is a social media star who routinely creates a stir with funny videos on Instagram – a video of him having a hilariously frustrating conversation in Punjabi with voice assistant Alexa is a particular favourite for many.
Dosanjh is particularly interesting because his image is the antithesis of the Punjabi hip-hop stereotype, a musician who eschews the music’s gritty sound and vocabulary for something more organic and traditional.
He is a soulful singer, his rich baritone soaring and quivering with emotion at the right places. At shows, he brings the house down with his energy (and gets Ed Sheeran to sing in Punjabi).
And his performances on screen can move people to tears or laughter.
For his fans, he is foremost a “beeba munda”, or a “good boy”, whose spontaneity, natural charm and relatable persona make him one of the most endearing stars of his time.
“Ask three people in a room why they like the man and they’ll give different reasons: his acting, singing or just the Instagram content he makes,” Tyagi says. “But they’ll all have one thing in common, which is their love for the person he is.”
Born as Diljit Singh in the Dosanjh Kalan village in Punjab, Dosanjh started his career by singing devotional songs at a local gurdwara. Those who knew him at the time say he was a “bashful boy” who “barely had any beard, but had the rhythm, did bhangra well, and tied a very good turban”.
“He was a very god-fearing beeba boy, who was hungry to learn,” Rajinder Singh, a song producer who gave Dosanjh his first break, once told The Indian Express.
At 16, he released his first album. The songs were less of a sensation at night clubs than at wedding parties, where his wide-eyed innocence and soulful voice instantly made him popular. Soon, he was getting shows almost every day.
A few years later, his parents sent him to the city of Ludhiana to live and train with his uncle, a local musician. It was a fertile time for pop music with regional artistes like Daler Mehndi and Panjabi MC of “Mundian to bach ke” fame taking Punjabi sounds to the world.
In 2006, Dosanjh did his first international tour in Canada and a year later, he released his second album, this time under his new name: Diljit Dosanjh.
