After two rounds of coffee each, a dozen journalists finally got to interact with the Bhangra star, who is also a popular pop and Sufi singer. Mehndi was adorned in his trademark embroidered paggadi and highly embellished sherwani.
“I’m glad to be in Nepal, a country I always loved and wanted to visit. After visiting the holy Pashupatinath Temple this afternoon, the feeling to have been in Nepal is much better now,” began Mehndi, who was in Kathmandu just for a day to perform at the Casino Nepal of Nepal Recreation Center (NRC) inside the premises of Hotel Soaltee Crowne Plaza.
The pop and bhangra idol of Punjab showed much concerns regarding the tourism and economical development of Nepal as he said, “When the entire world is going through recession and economic crisis, it’s really great to see how Nepal is still so welcoming to foreign artistes. It’s a daring job to bring them here and make them perform during such crisis. I’ll help this country in all possible ways I can.”
"I want to sing a Nepali song for a film. And this is my sincere request to all the filmmakers in Nepal: Please give me an opportunity to sing for you. I’ll sing for Nepal, and totally free of cost."
When we asked him what he could do for Nepal, when he was here just for a day, Mehndi answered, “I’m ready to come back anytime your country needs me, Keep counting on me as your well-wisher.”
How about lending his voice to any Nepali film?
Mehndi, who is reportedly one of the highest paid singer in Bollywood – he charges Indian Rupees 500,000 per song – confidently announced, “I want to sing a Nepali song for a film. And this is my sincere request to all filmmakers in Nepal: Please give me an opportunity to sing for you. I’ll sing for Nepal, and totally free of cost.”
At the short press meet, he also highlighted Bollywood’s musical transition from the time of the late RD Burman to Himesh Reshammiya now.
“Maestros like Manna De, RD Sahab, and Laxmi Kant Pyare Lal were true gemstones in the Indian music industry. They struggled day and night to learn music. Today, everyone creates music everyday in Mumbai. Indian music industry has lost all its charms,” revealed the prominent singer and performer. He added, “So many reality shows today are promising young people to make them phenomenal singers overnight. I find it stupid. If you think one reality show will really make you a singer, then you’re just fooling yourself. You’ll land up becoming a mimicry singer.”
Before bringing the question-answer round to end, Mehndi talked about his favorite songs, and there he started singing a few lines of, “Jo waada kiya wo nibhana padega” and “Kanchi re Kanchi re.”
As this gigantic figure proceeded towards the well-decorated stage of NRC to perform his ever popular bhangra numbers and some super hit Hindi film-i songs, the floor, which mainly had guests from Kolkata, Punjab and other places of India, cheered him aloud.
The empty space before the performance stage soon witnessed tapping feet with Daler Mehndi captivating the crowd with his revived bhangra numbers like “Dardi rab rab kardi” and “Tunuk tunuk tun ta ra ra.”
In no time, almost all “mushtande Punjabi pajis” (bearded Punjabi brothers) with their paggadis (Punjabi turbans) and “parjayjis” (sisters-in-law) joined the floor for bhangra steps. Alongside, a few Nepali invitees were no less competitive in making balle-balle moves to Mehndi’s fast rhythm.
One after the other, Mehndi enthralled the NRC audience with hit dancing numbers like “Babuji jara dhire chalo”, “Jhoom barabar”, “Hare Ram Hare Ram”, “Aajna soya sari raat”, “Phulosa chehera tera”, “Ho jayegi balle balle” and “Bolo ta ra ra ra.”
Organized especially for non-Nepali guests, many from North India went wild and crazy to get autographs of Daler Mehndi after his performance was over at 11:30 p.m.
Some fast facts about Daler Mehndi:
- Daler Mehndi started learning ragas at the age of six. He refined his vocal ability and also learnt to play the harmonium, tabla, dholak, and tanpura from the late Ustad Rahat Ali Khan Saheb.
- In his teenage, he moved to San Francisco and worked as a cab driver for sometime. However, at the recent press meet in Soaltee, he denied that he was a fulltime cab driver. “My brother in the States had many taxis. I asked him to give one to me so that I could hang around with my friends and also entertain passengers,” said he.
- Mehndi eventually switched from classical music to pop, and in 1995, his first album “Bolo Ta Ra Ra” sold half a million copies in four months and 20 million copies in total, making him the bestselling non-soundtrack album artist in Indian music history.
- Mehndi was suspected of being a member of a scam gang bringing illegal immigrants to Canada by disguising them as musicians. He however denied all such charges. He was in hiding for a month before he surrendered to the police in Patiala and was charged with 31 counts of immigration law violations. The Punjab police later declared Mehndi to be innocent.
- Mehndi specializes in a type of Hindi-Pop, which he instills with Rababi singing, a Sikh musical tradition. His trademark music sounds like a fusion of techno, dance, and house music, with the folk sounds of tabla being played in the background.
(All photos by Bijay Gajmer.)
avash@myrepublica.com
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