King of Bhangra Pop - Channi Singh
By
Khushwant Singh
King of Bhangra Pop- Channi Singh (OBE)
King of Bhangra Pop- Channi Singh (OBE)
Bollywood Saga
A veteran, with twenty-six albums released, including ‘Mainu Churiya Chada De Chann Ve’, a duet with Bollywood singing diva Asha Bhosle, Channi has been a music composer to mainstream Bollywood movies. He has rubbed shoulders with Dev Anand’s eldest brother Chetan Anand, who was attempting to make a Hindi feature film on Mirza-Sahiba (a love story). He had been carried away by Channi’s voice in the song ‘Jind Mahi’. Unfortunately Anand died due to prolonged illness, leaving the project mid-way. ‘Feroze Khan’s multi-starrer Yalgaar had its music from me,’ he says with pride. Channi, who keeps repeating that he doesn’t want to talk about these things, because of his humble nature, shyly blurts out information as we chat. He is highly critical of the poor work ethics Bollywood maintains. He alleges that the melody of the song ‘Mujhe Nind Na Aye ‘ ’ in the Hindi film Dil is an exact copy of his composition ‘Chunni Ud Ud Jaye’. ‘They used it without so much as seeking my permission. The music director of Hindi film Ashiq stole my composition “Ve Vanjareya” for his song “O Mere Dholna”,’ he laments. He has performed all over the world, including becoming the first band for the UN’s peace-keeping troops in Bosnia. He has composed middle-eastern music and worked on a collaborative project with Michael Jackson’s younger brother. Channi—already in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most successful Bhangra Band in the world—in 2005 was awarded a lifetime achievement award by the BBC at a ceremony held at Leicester.
A Family Man
Evening had set in and we were still in the studio. Channi realised that he had to pick up his wife from work. We reached the bank in about ten minutes where Dhanwant Kaur waited for us. Dressed in trousers and a jacket, executive like, Dhanwant Kaur was a chirpy lady with a husky voice. ‘Meet her, she is my Dhano’ said Channi, introducing her. Basanti, you mean! Remember Hema Malini as Basanti in the blockbuster film Sholay? Dhano is her modern-day avatar, chatty and articulate. ‘Welcome to Southall! What do you want to eat for dinner— Indian, Italian, or Chinese?’ she said in the same breath. ‘Anything,’ I replied, trying not to be fussy.
Within half an hour of our reaching home, herd-like, one, two, three and more and more men, women, children and teenagers, started pouring into the house. Oh! So they all are here to get a glimpse of the writer. ‘Keep on observing, the show is on,’ said Channi. In a couple of hours the head count had touched fifteen, with all of them buzzing around the dining table and exchanging the day’s notes. In a unique example of family spirit, with the scale heavily tilted towards Dhanwant Kaur’s family, her sisters, their families and brother, there is a huge reunion for dinner every night. This union has lasted over two and a half decades and interestingly there is a volunteer to cook food each evening, with the venue of the dinner shifting from time to time. That night the menu was Italian, though chapattis appeared rapidly from the kitchen, that forms part of the dining area. The story doing the rounds was about Dhanwant Kaur forgetting her purse in the London underground and still managing to recover it in a thug- ridden capital. ‘Wow, masi!’ said the teenagers, in awe at the daunting nature of their aunt. How could anybody dare touch Dhanwant Kaur’s purse!
The clock struck eleven as I waited for Channi to guide me to my bedroom. Since the morning, my luggage had been sitting in the drawing room, obstructing movement. There had been no sign of Channi asking me to move it to the desired location.
‘Where are you staying?’ My worst fear had come true. It was time for me to go. Where? I had no idea because I had bid farewell to my previous host. Thinking quickly, I sent an SMS to my cousin Simrita asking her if she was awake. She SMS-ed back saying yes, after which, I asked Channi to drop me at Twickenham, a suburb of London, as I was not comfortable using public transport, late night. En-route Channi apologised for the inconvenience; he expected Mona, who had still not returned from a cricket match, to come with girlfriends to stay over. I kept quiet, taking the episode as part of the experience. We said goodnight, promising to meet the next morning at 11 am at Channi’s office at Hounslow on Derby Road.
