Meaningful, meaningless & deep-seated prejudices

Manpriya Singh in Chandigarh

Mainu lehenga le de mehenga jeya marjanya… there’s a nice ring to the song, it’s apparently a huge hit. But — agree or disagree — the lyrics, for some, are patriarchal, regressive... However, popular Punjabi music is a world where women dream of Lamborghini rides, while men croon over her high heels, suit that suits her, a fair girl who’ll look good in a black SUV, as heard in the songs by super popular Yo Yo Honey Singh, Guru Randhawa and Amrit Mann, respectively. As for violence, Sidhu Moose Wala has crafted out of his music a successful career and loyal fans. Bohemia’s first hit was, incidentally, titled Kali Dunali.

After Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh ordered a ban on Punjabi movie Shooter, based on the life of gangster Sukha Kahlwan, and a case was registered against producer KV Singh Dhillon for allegedly promoting violence and gang culture, the spotlight is once again back on the parallel popular culture — Punjabi music.

It brags about violence, gangster culture, alcoholism... Chak Lo Revolver by Babbu Maan is a wedding staple even two decades after release; shootings are, by the way, still not unheard of. Only once in a while comes a Lagdi Lahore Di, which garnered a record-breaking 855 plus million views. Singer Guru Randhawa immediately credits the success to its great vibes. “It’s a song class apart, beautifully done and nicely composed. It clicked with every age group and that’s why it was a success. I think what really clicks with the millennials are beats and high energy.”

Incidentally, “beats” and “high energy” are advertently surrounded by Jatt, zameen, jeep ate gandasa. Point this out to Randhawa and he says there are all sorts of artistes with all sorts of experiences, journeys and background that reflect in their songs. “The same way, there exists an audience of all sorts. I personally don’t write such songs, but there is no denying that music gets accepted in all forms,” says Randhawa. “However, I do agree that artistes have a huge responsibility as youngsters follow them. If decent things are dished out, the future will obviously be better.” Taking note of the songs glorifying guns and gangsters, in 2018, the then Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Navjot Singh Sidhu, had announced the setting up of a Punjab Sabhyachaar (Culture) Commission to recommend action against such singers. After Sidhu resigned from the Cabinet last year, the commission never materialised.

JioSaavn, a music streaming app, collated data between January and September last year and reflected on the latest digital streaming trends across the country. While regional language music contributed 20 per cent of the top streamed songs, Punjabi language registered a 353 per cent upsurge, having garnered a 2.09 billion streams between January and September 2019! Expectedly, Sidhu Moose Wala and Maninder Buttar were the most popular streamed artistes in the language.

Akasa Singh, known for songs like Thug Ranjha and Kheench Meri Photo, feels it would be wrong to say that drugs and violence define Punjabi music. “I think that is a very subjective view. For me, Punjabi music has always represented beautiful melodies, strong vocals and emotions.” She also feels the youth today are very open as an audience. “We’re listening to diverse genres of music, which are relatively new to India.” That may be true, even if only to an extent. For every five rappers like Yo Yo Honey Singh and Bad Boy Badshah, there is a Satinder Sartaj and a Kanwar Grewal in Punjab. The latter are among the artistes who have not let go of their niche and broken into the pop culture defined by virality, memes and social media following.

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