Monday, December 15, 2003		Feature

MANN brothers are cyberophiles. While Harbhajan has an album that starts with a group of girls logging on to his Website and ends with a dine-out party, Gursewak is creating e-ripples after being hosted on the Net.

Launched on November 25, the site, http://www.gursewakmann.musicdot.com, has been hosted by Gursewak’s niece, Nav Gill. Other team members are Harry and Santir Gill.

"Singing is more than a career, it’s your heart, your passion. To reach into the depths of this art and then to offer that to the people is what makes an artist — that is what I strive for and that is what I’m about," says Gursewak Mann on the reverse set home page. The left side of home page carries five click buttons — Biography, Portfolio, Photo Gallery, Links and Feedback.

Nav Gill, the Website designer and coordinator, says that this is the official Website of Gursewak Mann that has been hosted by people whom he trusts implicitly. "The rationale behind the launch is to create a link between Gursewak and his fans. Therefore, fans can be assured that the information on the site is as accurate as can be," she says.

The biography section reveals some interesting details about this singer who is a trained pilot. The Website also mentions Banana Brothers, a Bollywood flick featuring Gursewak along with Anupam Kher, Gulshan Grover and Jonny Lever, which is to be released soon.

The portfolio section is all about the albums that the artist has cut till date and the photo gallery has a few 100 x 150 pixel solo mugshots, besides other photographs.

Nav Gill is pragmatic about the traffic she expects on site. "We plan to get this site exposed to every Punjabi music listener. Site hits will depend on this exposure," she says.

Answering a question on recent kabootarbaazi phenomenon, specifically on Punjabi pop music being on its way down after reaching its peak, Gursewak says: "See I don’t think that it is. I do, however, think that poor singing and unprofessional music videos are on their way out. I mean if Punjabi pop is on the decline how come you hear a solid Punjabi number in every Hindi film?

I have always been committed to Punjabi music and have always labelled myself as a Punjabi singer and not a pop singer. I was singing the same kind of stuff 10 years ago that I sing still."

Oye Hoye!