Diljit Dosanjh says his parents sent him away to live with relative in Ludhiana when he was 11

Chandigarh, April 5

Actor Diljit Dosanjh is not just a well known name in Punjabi and Hindi cinema but also a globally recognised singer.

The singer-actor would next be seen in Imtiaz Ali upcoming film ‘Amar Singh Chamkila’, which is set to premiere on April 12 on Netflix.

Diljit–in a recent interview–opened up about his childhood and relationship with his parents.

Born in Dosanjh Kalan village of Punjab in 1984, Diljit spoke with Ranveer Allahabadia. Diljit  revealed that he was sent away by his parents to live with a relative in Ludhiana when he was just 11 years old.

“I was eleven years old when I left my home and started living with my mamaji. I came to Ludhiana leaving behind my village.”

“Mamaji told my parents to send me to the city with him and my parents said ‘yes, take him’. They did not even ask me,” Diljit said.

“I used to stay alone in a small room. I used to just go to school and come back, there wasn’t any TV. I had a lot of time. Also, we didn’t have mobile phones back then, even if I had to call home or receive a call from my parents, it cost us money. So I started becoming distant from my family,” he said.

“I respect my mother a lot. My father is a very sweet person. He did not ask me anything. He did not even ask which school I studied. But my connection with them broke. Not just with them, with everyone,” the singer added.

“I had to unlearn things and start from zero. It’s a plus point in the life of an artist to do this. It’s tough to start from zero because you often get lost in your own personality and you feel this is who you are (but) the best thing about an actor’s job is that you get the opportunity to start from zero, and I look at this as an opportunity,” Dosanjh told PTI in an interview.

Chamkila, a grassroots singer had ruled street concerts in the ’80s Punjab, was shot dead along with his singer-wife Amarjot in 1988. —with PTI inputs