Diljit Dosanjh says dad checked tickets in roadways bus, salary finished by first day of month: ‘I started singing in weddings, birthdays’

Earlier, Khalistan terror group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) had threatened to disrupt the singer’s Australia concert on November 1. SJF’s chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannun even warned of shutting down Dosanjh’s Australia concert. The organisation claimed Diljit “insulted every victim, every widow, and every orphan of 1984 Sikh Genocide” by touching the feet of Bachchan who had allegedly incited crowd by raising genocidal slogan ‘Khoon Ka Badla Khoon (Blood for Blood)’. This is a charge Bachchan has outrightly dismissed many times in the past.

Diljit says Punjab is wounded

Reflecting on the floods, Diljit told Amitabh Bachchan: “Sir, what happened this time wasn’t the first time it has happened. It is something which keeps happening. I’m really grateful to you and the channel that you are addressing this because usually such things are not discussed on such platforms. And the people of Punjab often come forward to support themselves. Because one person cannot do it alone, only when everyone comes together can something be achieved. So everyone collaborated and contributed. We, as artists, can only stand together with people, but I want to say that Punjab is wounded right now, but it will rise on its feet.”

Diljit Dosanjh recalls being sent away from home when he was 11

As the show progressed, Amitabh asked Diljit about his childhood. Diljit recalled: “It was a decent childhood. I was okay in studies. I had a passion for music. When I was 10–11 years old, my parents sent me to my maternal uncle’s place. They sent me without even asking me; I thought they would consult me, but they didn’t. Ideally, they should ask children. One relative even suggested to my father to ask me, but he said, ‘What will asking achieve? Take him there.’ It felt really bad. And back then, there were no phones, so I would meet them after 3–4 months.”

He also spoke about his love for Bachchan’s films during his childhood: “Sir, at that time, I used to watch your films. There was only Doordarshan back then, so that’s where the films came. I really enjoyed it. When your films came or Dharmendra sir’s films came, I was very happy because there was fighting and action. I loved that. But when Rajesh Khanna sir’s films came, they were very sad, and I would feel sad too. Back then, I had no idea what acting really meant; for us, only fighting and action were enough.”

Diljit Dosanjh says father was a saint, only owned a cycle

Talking about his father, Diljit said: “My father was in a government job; he worked as a ticket checker in roadways. That was his job. He was like a saint. He led a very normal life. He didn’t have many desires, just one bicycle, and he loved mangoes. And he once told me, ‘Beta, tumhe khane ko roti milegi, rehne ko ghar milega, baki jo zindagi mein karna chahe woh khud se kar sakte ho.’ (Son, you will have food to eat and a home to live in, and for everything else you want to do in life, you can do it yourself.) What more could I have asked from him? I love him dearly.”

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Started singing for Rs 2,000

Diljit also reflected on the humble beginnings of his singing career: “After my first album released, someone came to book me. There was a birthday party at their house, so we performed there. After that, money started coming in, and it felt good, because my father’s salary would finish by the 2nd or 3rd of the month. So it felt like this work pays well. God has been kind. After that, anyone who came to our office, we never let them leave empty-handed. Whether it was a wedding, a birthday, or any function, we performed. We started performing for 2,000 rupees, and did a lot of wedding shows.”

Listening to Diljit’s childhood stories, Amitabh Bachchan also shared a nostalgic tale about his parents’ love story, which unfolded in just one day. He reminisced how his parents, Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Teji Bachchan, fell in love in a matter of few hours: “So, my father had gone to meet a few friends who also happened to be relatives of my mother for New Year celebrations. After dinner, everyone asked my father to narrate some of his works, but before he could begin, his friend called my mother to join us in listening. This exact moment is written in great detail in my father’s autobiography. He saw her for the first time and poetically described how she looked and what she was wearing. When he started narrating one of his poems, it moved my mother so much that she started crying, and seeing this, he too became emotional. Before anyone knew, they embraced each other and poured out their hearts. At that very moment, they decided they would marry each other.”