Daler Mehndi Punjabi dalēr mahindī born August 18, 1967, is a bhangra pop singer from India. Mehndi was a student of traditional Punjabi music and his first album broke sales records in India.Since 1995 he has recorded several highly successful albums in India, and also sung in several Bollywood movies. His international popularity has grown in recent years allowing him to tour the United States.Mehndi is well known as a philanthropist, funding beautification projects in Delhi and aiding quake victims.
Early life and discovery
As a Sikh, born and raised in Patna, he began singing at age 6 and was taught the ragas and Shabad's from the Guru Granth Sahib by his parents. At age fourteen he spent three years refining his voice and learning the tabla, dholak/dhool, harmonium and tanpura from Raahat Ali Khan Saheb.Mehndi married in 1986 and currently has three children. Mehndi then moved to San Francisco, United States and worked as a cab driver before returning to India in 1991 and forming a band. Initially he sang ghazals inspired by the poets Qateel Shifai and Firaq Gorakhpuri In 1992 he was in a car accident that injured a jaywalking man who Mehndi then took to the hospital. Mehndi was payed, and spent several months in his house.
1995-2007: Popularity
Mehndi eventually switched from classical music to pop, and in 1995 his first album Bolo Ta Ra Ra, with tunes based on those given to him by his mother, sold half a million copies in four months and 20 million copies total, making him the best selling non-soundtrack album in Indian music history. He received the Award for Voice of Asia International Ethnic and Pop Music Contest in 1994.He also earned Channel V's Best Male Pop Singer Award, which he also received in 1996 for Dar Di Rab Rab and in 1997 for Ho Jayegi Bale Bale. He has even appeared in the films Mrityudata and Arjun Pundit. His success helped him negotiate a record-breaking deal with his record company Magnasound for 20.5 million rupees. He has also been a guest star on the new Indian version of Sesame Street known as Galli Galli Sim Sim.His album song "Tunak Tunak Tun" is an Internet phenomenon. This cult following was spurred by the music video for Mehndi's song "Tunak Tunak Tun", often referred to simply as "Tunak", which gained its popularity due to Daler Mehndi's wild dancing and has led to many homages and parodies. Mehndi originally conceived of the music video, in which he dances with "clones" of himself, in response to media statements that he was popular only because of the models in his videos. Tunak Tunak Tun was the first music video to make use of bluescreen technology in India. His enduring popularity is reflected by the male Draenei in The Burning Crusade, the official expansion pack to Blizzard Entertainment's award winning MMORPG World of Warcraft, revealed at E3 2006, which appears to be performing Mehndi's "Tunak Tunak Tun" dance. His cult status was further bolstered by the animutation "Han Teleporterar Taliban", based on his song "Jalwa".
Controversies
Mehndi was accused of being a member of a scam bringing illegal immigrants to Canada by disguising them as musicians, a charge he denies. He was in hiding for a month before he surrendered to police in Patiala and charged with 31 counts of immigration law violations. Punjab police director-general, A. A. Siddiqui, later stated Mehndi was innocent and insinuated that the confusion arose because Daler and his brother, who was the original target of the scandal, looked alike. Mehndi has also commented on the legal troubles of his brother Mika Mehndi and performer Rakhi Sawant, saying that "kissing parties" are an undesirable addition to Indian culture.An Indian Islamic group called Raza Academy took Mehndi to court over some of the lyrics and the video of his album Nabi Buba Nabi to be offensive. Several of the words were changed, removing references to "prophet".
Artistry
Daler Mehndi specializes in a type of Punjabi-Pop that he infuses with Rababi singing, a Sikh musical tradition. The sound is similar to that of Techno, dance, and house music, with the folk sounds of an Indian tabla being played in the background. His popularity and the concurrent revival of Bhangra music is thought to be driven by the ease of dancing to it and a national pride in the Indian musicians.
Philanthropy and other activities
Mehndi has established the Daler Mehndi Green Drive to help make a cleaner environment in Delhi. He has also donated 85 million rupees to the green drive, 12 million rupees to Cargyle charities, and built 16 houses in Gujarat after an earthquake there. He also did a concert series in Pakistan to raise funds for the quake victims.He has also helped rehabilitate victims of the Orissa cyclone and street children in Kenya.He is a fan of automobiles, owning a Prado because of the protection it gives against the road rage and "poor discipline on the part of the majority or road users" on Delhi's streets, but hopes to purchase a Hummer "like Jackie Shroff" at some point.
Discography
Bolo Ta Ra Ra - 1995
Dardi Rab Rab - 1996
Ho Jayegi Balle Balle - 1997
Tunak Tunak Tun - 1998 The title song is also part of the canon line up of songs that is used at several CTY locations.
Ek Dana - 2000
Nach Ni Shaam Kaure - 2002
Mo Jaan Laen Do - 2003
Shaa Ra Ra Ra - 2004
*Raula Pai Gaya - 2007
Daler Mehndi is a well known Punjabi artist.He is well known for his melodies songs.One of his popular album is Bolo Ta Ra Ra.There are 13 album currently in the market.Some of the popular tracks from his hit album Bolo Ta Ra Ra are.
Tracks:
Ashke
Bolo Ta Ra Ra
Dil Mere Nal Nal Nal
Mennu Le Chal
Sajna Door Na Jaaveen
Soniye
Sun Baliye
Ta Na Na Na
Smart Playlists
