Bathinda Warblers

Dinesh paaji is barely 25 himself and his latest find, Laadi Sandhu, who is in the studio today, has already released an album, Sohniya, and is all set to cut another. Paaji shot into fame after discovering and launching Jazzy B, Punjab8217;s biggest pop star in recent times. Looking harassed in rumpled hair and a crumpled track suit, he reflects on the vibrant music industry of the state. 8216;8216;I8217;ve been working since five in the morning,8217;8217; he groans but is pleased at the way his new find is shaping out to be.

8216;8216;Bhangra pop has almost become a cottage industry,8217;8217; says Rajiv Sogani, VP of Tips Industries, a major player in the Punjabi music market, 8216;8216;with studios cropping up everywhere, and every youngster wanting to become a singer.8217;8217;

His words ring true when you stroll down the crowded singers8217; mandis in Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Bathinda. Pink-faced crooners stare down from massive billboards placed cheek by jowl. That business is booming is evident from the plush offices they maintain here. 8216;8216;These are essential for business,8217;8217; explains Sanjeev Rana, secretary to Sarabjit Saab, a Jalandhar-based singer.

Exhibitionism is the name of the game, and in other offices, smiling, efficient secretaries an arrangement which sets a singer back by at least Rs 10,000 a month usher you in. Bhangra pop biggies have even begun operating out of upmarket hotels. Seema Anjaan, who lives in the border town of Patti, but has an address at Jalandhar, maintains it is a necessary expenditure. 8216;8216;The expenses we incur are more than made up by the business we get.8217;8217;

Business is booming, with a singer charging anything between Rs 10,000 and Rs 1 lakh for a performance. No wonder Madan Maddi, a mechanical engineer-turned-crooner, who has been in the industry for 10 years, has no regrets about his career switch. 8216;The output is far more when compared to the input,8217;8217; beams Maddi, who earns Rs 40,000 per performance.

It is the reason why people have abandoned traditionally lucrative careers for bhangra pop. Satee Khokewali, a doctor from Phagwara, who once penned lyrics in his spare time, is now keen to turn into a full-time songwriter. Reason: He gets paid Rs 5,000 for a song.

It8217;s money for a song, especially during the marriage season, from September to February when good performers are booked almost seven days a week. The easy money, coupled with glamour and the customary 15 minutes of fame on television channels, has made pop music the most sought after career among the Punjabi youth.

Binny Sharma, the director of musical programmes like Jhaanjar and Reshmi Rumaal on Jalandhar Doordarshan, says he is deluged by wannabe pop singers everyday. 8216;8216;I8217;ve lost count of them,8217;8217; he groans. 8220;Every person with a few lakhs to spare has become a singer.8217;8217;

Yudhvir Manak, 23-year-old son of famous folk singer Kuldeep Manak, nods. 8216;8216;It8217;s unfortunate, but money rather than talent plays a big role now,8217;8217; he says. Not surprisingly, the wannabes in the market has turned the music industry on its head. It is the artiste who pays the recording company to cut a track and not the other way round.

Laadi Sandhu admits to having invested Rs 1.5 lakh in his video. Rajesh Sharma, the owner of Stance, a production house in Jalandhar, which shoots programmes for the leading Punjabi channels, says a cassette costs an artiste at least Rs 3 lakh.

The glut is not limited to singers alone, there is a surfeit of recording studios as well. Kuljit Singh, a music director who owns G R Recording Studio in Jalandhar, rues that even newcomers have started dictating terms to them. 8216;8216;They want good quality at low rates.8217;8217;

But old-timers like Sukhwinder Sukhi, a popular folk singer from Ludhiana, say this pay-to-be-a-popstar trend is a recent phenomenon. Sukhi himself did not pay a penny. 8216;8216;I stumbled into the industry by sheer luck.8217;8217; And talent. A post-graduate student of agriculture from Punjab Agricultural University, a chance encounter with Jarnail Ghuman, the owner of CMC, a recording company, in 1995 changed his life. 8216;It8217;s too good to be true,8217;8217; he exults.

Yudhvir Manak grins in agreement. 8216;8216;The pop industry allows you to dress in a certain style, to live life kingsize,8217;8217; he drawls in the lazy Aussie accent he picked up during his stay Down Under, where he got his diploma in sound production.

The fan following commanded by a pop star in Punjab is almost unparalleled. 8216;8216;I am sure Jazzy B will draw as much a crowd as Shah Rukh Khan in Jalandhar,8217;8217; laughs Sogani from Tips. 8216;8216;This popularity is perhaps due to the fact they were deprived of their stars during the dark decade of militancy,8217;8217; explains Rajesh Sharma.

Besides, the new crop of made-in-Punjab singers like Gurdas Mann, Harbhajan Mann, Jasbir Jassi, Hans Raj Hans, Sukhwinder, have audiences not only in the state, but the world over. It8217;s the magnitude of their success that has spurred on many hopefuls to cash in on their talent. Then there are the NRIs who come to their native land to court the fickle fame with loaded wallets.

Veteran artistes naturally decry this trend. 8216;8216;It gives us a bad name,8217;8217; says Harbhajan Mann, who left Canada to make India his home once he started his affair with music. He also bemoans the lack of a musical training among the fly-by-night crooners.

But those serious about making music their muse do try to hone their talent. Which is why Laadi Sandhu is taking lessons from Prof B S Narang of DAV College, who has tutored the likes of Hans Raj Hans, Sukhwinder Singh of Chaiya Chaiya fame, and Jasbir Jassi. 8216;8216;No matter how much you spend on the video or publicity, you can8217;t be a hit unless you have sur or taal,8217;8217; says Sandhu wisely.

And, while the doomsayers may see dark days ahead for the industry, its inhabitants swear by the pure sound of music. 8216;8216;Mellifluous music can never go out of vogue,8217;8217; says Dinesh. So, just play on8230;

With Nimrit Gill in Ludhiana, Sanjeev Chopra in Bathinda and Rachna Subir Sen in Amritsar