Pasha of Punjabi pop

By Kunal Khurana

If there’s one singer who has consistently topped the music charts for the past three years in India, and currently commands a fan following comparable to any cricket player or cine star, it’s none other than the Prince of Punjabi Pop, Daler Mehndi.

Numbers such as Bolo Tara Ra Ra, Sade Naal Rahoge and Dardi Rab Rab have become so popular that even kids, not knowing the language, are singing them across the length and breadth of the country. In fact, his latest, Ho Jayegi Balle Balle has almost become the national anthem.

Few however, know that this turbaned Punjabi singer is a Bihari by birth. His father used to be a singer in the Patna Sahib Gurdwara. For the best part of his 30 years, he has stayed in Bihar.

As a child, Daler used to accompany his father to the gurdwara and sing the Gurbani. That was all the training he received in his formative years before Ustad Rahat Ali Khan, a protege of the legendary Bade Ghulam Ali, took him under his wings.

Daler attributes his success as a pop singer to Rahat Ali, even as he was to later train under such ghazal maestros as Nazakat Ali, Jagjit Singh and Mehdi Hassan at different points of time. Parvez Mehndi was another favourite, as he was to later adopt the surname for himself.

But Rahat Ali was special. From him, Daler mastered the art of blending Punjabi folk with the Benares school (gharana) of music and developed his own idiom of singing — one that is rooted in the classical tradition, yet modern in rhythm and melody.

With this, he combined some vigorous bhangra dance movements and the packaging was perfect. Daler stood out as the desi pop icon for the present generation, distinct from forerunners like Gurdas Mann (who has taken to films ) and Baba Sehgal.

Daler’s success can also be attributed to the explosion of music channels on Indian television during the mid-nineties. With presentation and packaging gaining primacy in music videos, Daler became an instant hit as Bolo Tara Ra Ra and Saade Naal Rahoge were released in 1996.

Today, Daler may be seen as the highest paid Indian pop artiste — playing hard-to -get, extremely money-minded, arrogant and downright rude off-stage with his fans. This is in sharp contrast to the image he has carefully projected as the ever-smiling sardar.

Friends and all those who know him well point out that the off-putting behaviour is actually a put-on. He is paranoid about his privacy and cannot allow himself to be harassed by music companies and stage show organisers, who exploited him in his upcoming years.

After he was married at the age of 18, about 12 years ago, life took a turn for the better for him. He has become fiercely protective towards his parents, wife and son, ensuring that they are never exposed to the intrusive glare of the media.

But bits and pieces of information about him can still be gathered : that he did not study beyond Class VI, that he used to bunk school to hitch a free ride on passing trucks, that he loved to steal jungli jalebis, a fruit grown in the many orchards located in the outskirts of Patna....

The only sport he had some interest in was football. He liked to take the position of a goalkeeper for his team at school. Otherwise, in his neighbourhood, at Patna, he was seen playing gulli-danda.

Today, having shifted base to Delhi, Daler has acquired the reputation of being a committed environmental activist. He is known to set out with schoolchildren on tree-plantation drives and to hold charity shows for several ecology protection groups.

These activities have earned Daler much respect, particularly from his contemporaries like Bally Sagoo, Baba Sahgal, Apache Indian and Malkiat Singh. They may not be on the same league as him, but they are the best of friends.

Professional rivalry is one thing that has not touched Daler Mehndi. (MF )