Although the docu-series ‘AP Dhillon: First of a Kind’ is about a single man, the makers could have focused on other artistes of the collaboration as well

Sheetal

In the career span of just three years, it’s a huge feat for AP Dhillon and his Brown Munde gang to bag a documentary titled AP Dhillon: First of a Kind! Starting out from a garage, producing song after song from their living room, it took one big song, Brown Munde, for them to create a massive fan base in many countries.

However, with a director, Jay Ahmed, who is just two projects old, and the Brown Munde — AP Dhillon, Gminxr, Gurinder Gill and Shinda Kahlon — having just three years of experience in the industry, the documentary comes a tad early.

While the first two episodes are about their success, the other two are just BTS moments from concerts; challenges they faced, AP’s injury and a fun banter with his barber, Maurice Mocutz.

It’s a big celebration back home for a Punjabi munda in his 30s dishing out global hits. As confessed by Amritpal Singh Dhillon in some candid emotional moments, he considered himself a failure until he re-ignited his musical talent when exposed to the right set of friends.

Raised by a single parent (father) and pretty close to his grandmother, he shared how he was not great at studies and never wished to leave India, but had no other choice. From sleeping on the roadside with his two suitcases, with no credit card in an unknown country, to him doing ‘India The Takeover Tour’ and then making a mark globally with ‘Out Of This World Tour’…it is indeed quite a success story.

Without blaming AP Dhillon, who swears by his equally talented team, it seems a little unfair that the makers focused on just one person. Brown Munde is not just AP’s song, but also of GG (Gurinder Gill) on supporting vocals, Kahlon (Shinda) with lyrics and Gminxr with music. So, to showcase their concerts and not individual stories is a big heartbreak.

On the brighter side, there is a message for budding artistes, just like that of Phunsukh Wangdu of 3 Idiots — ‘stay true to what you like, and people will follow’. Sidhu Moosewala’s death and its effect on AP, pangs of separation from family and extortion calls when in Punjab have all been highlighted, but these can be taken a notch higher if ever there is a season two.

Only hardcore AP fans will need no ‘excuses’ to skip this documentary!