“Like a one-man army, everything about my songs when I started used to be mine — the music, composition, hook line, lyrics, my look, the colour combination of the visuals, dance steps, the design, all used to be mine. Also, I never wanted it to seem I've taken anything from Bollywood, western music or the South. Firstly, my fight with was to challenge Bollywood to appear different, then it was to challenge South musicians, plus Punjabi music was a big hit in London, so I had to beat the London music, too. Mostly, God listened to a lot of my prayers, and answered whatever I asked for,” said Daler Mehndi when asked how he's been singlehandedly responsible for bringing bhangra from a niche section till the 80s to the mainstream from the 90s onward.

“I was trained as a ghazal singer, my base was very strong, who knew I would end up as such a popular bhangra singer that even 26 years later my songs would be hear from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and also in foreign countries with the same fan-following. It's a lot to do with my Mummy's blessings that I didn't need to depend then on any music director and lyricist. It was she who gave me the hook line, Bolo Ta Ra Ra, for my first song. And then, later, Bollywood also later wanted to work with me and welcomed we with open arms,” added Daler Mehndi as he reflected on his glorious journey.

In an exclusive interview with BollywoodLife, the undisputed king of bhangra, Daler Mehndi, reflected on his majestic journey from a trained ghazal singer to Punjabi pop legend, why he concurs when people credit him for majorly bringing bhangra into mainstream Indian music and how he went from a challenger to Bollywood to the same industry embracing him with open arms.

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