Sawhney's Bollywood dreams

Sawhney is popular among Indians and foreigners alike. He has about 500 albums to his credit.

Punjabi singers have contributed immensely to popularise the cultural heritage of the vibrant state.

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Presently Bhangra is a global phenomenon. Whether it is America, Africa or the Middle East, Bhangra is one dance form that enthrals people with the lively rhythms of the dhol.

Shankar Sawhney is one such musician in the Punjabi music industry who has managed to reach to the hearts of Indians and foreigners alike, with about 500 Punjabi and Hindi albums to his credit. A Bhangra pop icon, Shankar has made the state proud with some 1000 live stage shows in India and abroad.

He himself narrates one incident in Paris to illustrate the influence of Bhangra even in countries, which do not even have any remote connection with Punjab.

"Once in Paris, I went to buy sunglasses. With great difficulty I could communicate to the shopkeeper the type of glasses I needed. The shopkeeper asked me, What do you do? I said that I am a Bhangra singer. The shopkeeper gave me those glasses free of cost and asked a CD of my songs. This is the power of bhangra music, so people love it. Like rage and disco, bhangra is one of them. So the credit goes to the people who had made the dhol. It's not
Shankar Sawhney or any other singer, because even without a singer, people start dancing on its rhythm," said Sawhney.

The craze of Bhangra has mesmerised the people worldwide and has been popularised everywhere by its singers and their albums. Shankar who hails from a family of great exponents of the "Kirana gharana", one of the many schools of Indian classical music, was at the tender age of three, initiated into classical music, and since his schooldays been performing on stage.

As far as doing his own thing is concerned, he is confident of having a handle on what people want to hear. "I use to sing on the stage shows with Punjabi, a few Hindi numbers as well. So I get lot of requests when I am in a Hindi speaking area. They gave me some requests of Hindi songs. So from childhood there are few songs of which I am getting request from all over the world. It is said in Punjabi, "Eat of your taste, sing for other's choice". So I wanted to sing this from the beginning. But I did't get a chance because a majority of the people requests me to sing Punjabi songs, he said.

The voice behind Yarri Yarri and Kudi Kurmuni and recently the Champion number Jatt Luteya Gaya, he has done a fair amount of playback singing as well. With the present Bollywood trend of using a Punjabi song track in films, singers like Shankar Sawhney can now reach out to the masses.

A lover of classical and folk music, Shanker believes melody is his forte. However he is confident of singing in any style be it folk classical or pop.