Notes from Punjabi music

Jasmine Singh 

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The Punjabi music scene of 2018 has been a happening one. New concepts, songs crossing more 230 million views, Bollywood and Pollywood actresses featuring in music videos, there has been a lot of activity this year. At the same time, it was a year that saw the biggest controversies of the time, which shook the entire artiste fraternity. But the show went on, the music kept rolling, and we heard some of the best tunes. 

The controversies 

Music has the power to heal hearts, it can strike a chord with all and sundry, but in 2018 it struck the wrong note, when singer-actor and video director Parmish Verma of Gaal Nai Kadni fame was shot in the knee by a gangster. Parmish is a very well-known name and the Punjabi music industry had to face a terrible time because of the incident. This raised a hue and cry with artistes seeking police security from the goons. 

 And it was exactly at this time, looking at the gravity of the situation that lead Punjab government to form a culture commission to check on vulgarity in songs. The commission has the right to issue show cause notices to singers who glorify vulgarity or violence. 

Looks like the step taken in 2018 did have little effect on the situation as an accidental fire at Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala’s show in Mohali turned all eyes on the social responsibility of the singers.

Amidst the big controversy that lead to numerous debates on who is responsible for vulgarity and violence, listeners or the singer, Punjabi singer Miss Pooja created another controversy by showing a drunk yamraj in her song Jeeju. 

On a happy note 

If you thought controversies are the only thing that remained hot on the Punjabi music scene this year, well, then here is touchdown on the popular Punjabi numbers that kept our feet tapping. Punjabi singer Gurnam Bhullar re-entered the music scene with his single Diamond with more than 250 million YouTube views. The song became an overnight success, being played at all Punjabi weddings and parties. Another Punjabi song, a collaboration between Neha Kakkar and Jassie Gill, Nikale Currant crossed 200 million views. This peppy number released towards the end of 2018, will definitely set the mood for 2019. 

Year 2018 also belonged to Punjabi singers who had not been around for long. This year was their back-with-a-bang story. Punjabi singer Jordan Sandhu’s song Teeje Week written by Bunty Bains remained on the top of the list for weeks together. With 138 million views, the song was definitely one of the most watched songs of 2018. The year also gave the rumoured Punjabi artiste couple, Jasmine Sandlas and Garry Sandhu, a reason to celebrate. While on one hand, Garry’s song Yeah Baby crossed over 100 million views, Jasmine Sandlas’s Sip Sip was also the peppiest number of the year. 

The year of Diljit

2018 saw actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh being on the music scene for the maximum time. The popular artiste released various songs from his album Roar in different genres. Hi End, Putt Jatt Da, Gulabi Pagg, Pagal, Jind Mahi, Aar Nanak Paar Nanak, with his fans giving a thumbs up to all the singles.

Guru & the Indian connect 

Punjabi singer Guru Randhawa who is now a popular name in Bollywood music, released Made In India, with 335 million views. Another of his single, Downtown broke the internet with 110,075,349 views. The young singer was the most happening singer of 2018, announcing a collaboration with Pitbull. 

Babes in music 

Apart from the highs and lows in the Punjabi music industry, 2018 saw many Hindi television actresses and popular Punjabi actresses feature in Punjabi songs. Bollywood hottie Nargis Fakhri was seen in Satinder Sartaaj’s track Tere Vaastey. Popular reality TV star Hina Khan also made her debut in Punjabi entertainment industry as she modelled in Punjabi song Bhasoodi sung by Sonu Thukral.