Animal song Arjan Vailly: Origin, meaning and controversy behind Ranbir Kapoor starrer

Composed by Manan Bhardwaj, the song has been sung and penned by Bhupinder Babbal. When it was first heard in the film’s pre-teaser, Punjabi singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh was in awe of it as he re-shared it on his X account and quoted a line from the song, “Arjan Vailly ne Pair Jod Ke Gandasi Maari”. He also wrote, “Savaad Leya Taa.. #RanbirKapoor #SandeepReddyVanga ✊🏽 Fire Vocal 🔥 #BhupinderBabbal.”

But, the song also drew criticism from Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan in Rajya Sabha. She complained that the song might hurt religious sentiments as it has significance in Sikhism. She said, “As far as ‘Arjan Vailly’ is concerned. Hari Singh Nalwa, the commander-in-chief of the Sikh Force, who fought against the Mughals, against the British, his son was Arjan Singh Nalwa. He saved many Muslims from Pakistan’s Gujranwala, before the Partition. The movie uses this historical song in a gang war setting, and this could hurt religious sentiments.” Meanwhile, BJP used the song to celebrate its electoral triumph in the recently concluded state elections.

Origin of Animal song Arjan Vailly

‘Arjan Vailly’ draws from the Dhadi-Vaar music, which has its roots in the Sikh tradition and is popular as a war cry to instil courage in the soldiers. It is said that the music style was coined during the era of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh guru, to boost people’s morale during the fight against the Mughals.

Today, a person who dares to fight against hundreds of enemies single-handedly, a person who is not scared to pick up a weapons to right the wrongs or someone always ready to stand beside a wronged person, is called Arjan Vailly.

However, as per lore, Arjan Vailly, also known as Arjan Singh Nalva, was the fourth son of Hari Singh Nalva, the Commander-in-Chief of the Sikh Khalsa Fauj. Hari Singh fought a tiger alone with the help of a dagger. As he defeated the tiger alone, he gained the title of ‘Bagh Maar’, and fought against the Mughals in the 18th century. After his death, Arjan Singh took over the responsibility of his father and saved the Sikh states from the Britishers.

The word ‘Vailly’ is used for an individual who is not afraid to go against the law to fight against the wrong fiercely.

As per another folklore, the song is about a fight that took place between Arjan Vailly and his two friends with a group from Pandori village during the Roshani festival, held in Ludhiana’s Jagraon town in February every year. The Pandori group was bigger but Vailly overpowered them with his mastery of gandaasi (axe).

Meaning of Arjan Vailly, the popular Animal song

The song begins with the words, ‘Ho Khade Vich Dang Khadke, Othe Ho Gayi Ladayi Bhari’ which translate to there’s a big fight going on in the crowd. The entire song hints at the intensity of war and the valour of the Sikh soldiers who are described as ‘Jatts’. It suggests that the soldiers used axes, daggers and swords to kill the enemy.

The song’s hook line ‘Arjan Vailly ne Pair Jod Ke Gandasi Maari’ means Arjan Vailly attacked with the axe with full force by joining his feet.

The song’s composer Manan Bhardwaj earlier explained why the song was used for Ranbir Kapoor’s character, who is on a killing spree in the song. He told Etimes, “We call a person Arjun Vailly when he can fight with 100 people single-handedly. In the song, he (Ranbir) is fighting with gandaasi (axe) and has left his guns behind.”

Other version of Arjan Vailly

The song was first used in the 1983 film Putt Jattan De, featuring Shatrughan Sinha.

In Animal, Ranbir Kapoor’s character Ranvijay is out to avenge an assassination attempt on his father Balbir Singh, played by Anil Kapoor.

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