There is a song for every occasion here.īollywood, the dominant player in the Indian music scene, has always had a Punjabi influence in its song-anddance routine largely courtesy Yash Raj Films and Dharma Productions, both run by Punjabi families, the Chopras and the Johars. Then there’s the Sufi Punjabi music, the bhangra, and the most commercial of them all - Punjabi pop. You sing suhag to express the bittersweet feelings associated with a wedding, tappe to celebrate Lohri and Baisakhi, and boliyan to sing while doing gidda, a Punjabi dance form. Several musical instruments like Tumbi, Algoze, Dhadd and Chimta are unique to Punjab.ĭifferent occasions have different kinds of songs. It is through Punjabi folk music that poets have narrated love ballads of Heer-Ranjha and Sohni-Mahiwal, Mirza-Sahiba and Sassi-Punhoon. Music has always been a big part of Punjab’s culture and history. He has seen how, in the ’90s, when Gurdas Maan came to a village to perform a show, the entire community left everything behind to attend en masse. Their access to great production studios resulted in legendary transformational sounds that we’ve seen through Sukhshinder Shinda, Panjabi MC, and Jazzy B” Aditya Sisodia aka Badshah, rapper Since the ’80s, Punjabi artistes in other countries have been tying the folk sounds of tumbi and dhol with international influences. “That’s where Gurdas Maanji sang his breakthrough song ‘Mamla gadbad hai’ for the first time,” he recalls. He remembers the ’80s when Jalandhar was the hub of Punjabi media, and artistes who performed on DD Punjabi’s prime time show Lishkara, were declared superstars the following day. Producers of Punjabi origin who grew up in cities such as London or Toronto brought back a distinct quality and production sensibility to the state.Īnd Bollywood, which is deeply influenced by Punjabi culture, now just can’t get enough of Punjabi songs.īut Auluck remembers a simpler time, when things were not so frenetic, but which nonetheless laid the foundations for today’s success. The massive Punjabi diaspora overseas, now brought closer by digital distribution, is a big market for online sales and live shows.
The state has a long-standing tradition of music and live performance. The heady rise of Punjabi music is a result of several factors. Not once have I received a request to perform any of them onstage” Diljit Dosanjh singer and actor. Some of my most meaningful songs also have the least number of views.
I don’t blame anyone for this, but this is the unfortunate truth. Every time I’ve made a meaningful song, I have seen it doesn’t get the same push as say a ‘Panj Taara’.