Daler Mehndi | |
|---|---|
 Mehndi performing live in 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Daler Singh |
| Born | (1967-08-18)18 August 1967 (age 57)[1] Patna,Bihar, India |
| Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party[2] |
| Genres | Bhangra Indi-pop |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Labels |
|
| Website | dalermehndi |
| Family | Mika Singh (brother) |
| Criminal information | |
| Criminal status | Released |
| Conviction | Human trafficking |
| Criminal penalty | 2 years in prison (suspended after 2 months) |
Daler Singh (born 18 August 1967), better known asDaler Mehndi, is an Indian singer, songwriter, author, and record producer. He has helped to makeBhangra popular worldwide, as well asIndian pop music independent ofBollywood music. He is known for his dance songs,turban, and long flowing robes.[3][4]
In 2018, Mehndi was convicted ofhuman trafficking and was sentenced to two years in prison. After serving around two months, his sentence wassuspended and he was released.[5]
Daler Mehndi was born inPatna,Bihar,India in aPunjabiSikh family.[3][6][7] In 1991, he formed his group, composed of his brothers, cousins, and friends. In 1994, he was awarded the Voice of Asia International Ethnic and Pop Music Contest in 1994 inAlmaty,Kazakhstan.[8]
Magnasound signed Mehndi for a three-album contract for three years.Bolo Ta Ra Ra, Mehndi's debut album, sold over 20 million copies.[9] The album established Daler as a pop star,[10] which also won him the Channel V's Best Indian Male Pop Artist Award. A year later, his second album under Magnasound,Dardi Rab Rab, was launched. This album surpassed the sales ofBolo Ta Ra Ra. He was nominated in three categories atthe Channel V Music Awards and won the Channel V Best Indian Male Artist Award.[11]
In 1997, he released his third album,Balle Balle. This got him Channel V Awards in six categories.[12] Like his previous albums,Balle Balle wentmulti-platinum.[13] The same year, Mehndi composed and performed the popular track "Na Na Na Re" for theBollywood filmMrityudata, where he featured on the big screen withAmitabh Bachchan. The film'sBollywood soundtrack album sold 1.5 million units in India.[14]
In 1998, he released "Tunak Tunak Tun", which had a music video produced on a thenunprecedented budget of₹25 million[15] ($610,000),[16] equivalent to₹113 million ($1.08 million) adjusted for inflation. The song and video was a success in India, cementing Mehndi's status as India's biggest popstar at the time,[17] later becoming an international success.[17] The album won the award for Best Indian Pop Album at the 1998Screen Awards.[18]
In 2000, Mehndi released his albumEk Dana with the music labelTIPS Music. The album had a mix of genres ranging fromfolk, rock, and pop.[19] One of the more popular songs of the albumSajan Mere Satrangiya featured Indian actressPriyanka Chopra in the video.[20] This video was released inthe year that Chopra won theMiss World title. Subsequently, Mehndi signed up withUniversal Music in 2001 and released a new track "Kala Kauwa Kaat Khayega". In 2003, Mehndi forayed into playback singing for films. He started with the song "Ru-Ba-Ru" for the filmMaqbool. The same year Daler andA.R Rahman came together to give another track "Nach Le" forLakeer – Forbidden Lines which the song reused "Thaniye" from the Tamil-Telugu filmRhythm. He fused Rock with Bhangra with his next album titledMojaan Laen Do and in 2004 he self-producedShaa Ra Ra.[21]
In March 2014,Deadmau5 and Mehndi made a remix of Mehndi's 1998 hit "Tunak Tunak Tun" performed by the duo.[22][23]
On Navratri 2014, Mehndi composed and recorded his rendition of the 'Hanuman Chalisa' overnight while working at his studio in Delhi.[24] Daler Mehndi, feeling inspired during the festival of Navratri, composed and record his rendition of the 'Hanuman Chalisa' in the DM Folk Studio.[25]
In September 2014, Mehndi released his song 'Aaja Mere Twitter Te' to encourage users to visit his Twitter account and Facebook page.[26]
On 6 November 2014, Mehndi released his album 'Best of Gurbani' on the occasion ofGuru Nanak Jayanti.[27]
In 1998, Mehndi was signed byCoca-Cola for product endorsement and was featured in 30 concerts across India.[28] He has performed worldwide including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, theUnited Arab Emirates, South Africa, East Africa,Oman,Kuwait,Bahrain,Malaysia,Pakistan, Hong Kong, Singapore,West Indies,Belgium, and theNetherlands.[29]
On 29 September 2013, Daler performed at the YouFest festival in Spain.[30][31] He has had an advent with Canadianelectronic dance music artistDeadmau5 in aLamborghini Murciélago LP670-4 SuperVeloce, Daler featured on his tour in India and together they produced an EDM remixed version of "Tunak Tunak Tun".[32]
In August 2014, Mehndi was invited as the guest of honour along with U.S CongressmanPete Sessions for the closing bell ceremony atNASDAQ Stock Exchange in New York, after which he performed at the National Indian American Public Policy Institute Azadi Diwas (NIAPPI) celebrations on the occasion of the 65thIndependence Day.[33]
Mehndi delivered his first-ever performance in Kuwait on 5 September. Welcomed by a packed audience at the Al Daiya Indoor Stadium, he broke his record for the longest live performance without a break by performing for four and a half hours non-stop.[34]
The concert organised by the Indian Cultural Society (ICS) has been named 'Bolo Ta Ra Ra Ra' in honour of Daler Mehndi's globally popular track by the same name.[35][36][37]
On the eve ofGuru Nanak Jayanti, Mehndi was invited to Ulhas Nagar to perform at the world's largest Prabhat Pheri.[38]
In November 2014, Mehndi visitedMandsaur, Madhya Pradesh for a performance.[39]
In November 2014, Mehndi was invited toNigeria for a performance to celebrate Diwali. This was the second time the musician has performed in the country.[40]
Mehndi is credited for creating a genre called "Rabbabi", a combination ofThumri,Sufi, and rock and creating an instrument called "Swar Mandir" that combines influences from theRabab,Swarmandal, andTanpura. The instrument was crafted by Sanjay Rikhi Ram from Delhi and was launched on 10 February 2012 by theIndian classical music maestro,Bharat Ratna awardee PanditRavi Shankar.[41]
Mehndi launched his maiden Record Label 'DRecords' in the year 2000.[42] The record label has several artists under its banner including Hussain Baksh and Safri Boys.[43]
Mehndi's "Tunak Tunak Tun" has found popularity on the internet as aviral video, with the officialYouTube video gaining over 200 million views as of November 2022.[44] The video game companyBlizzard Entertainment incorporated the Tunak Tunak Tun dance as a character animation in their multiplayer role playing gameWorld of Warcraft.[45] This dance is also included as an easter egg in the video game Medal of Honor: Allied Assault: Spearhead.[46]
Mehndi is the brother of singersMika Singh and Shamsher Singh.[47] Mehndi is married to Taranpreet Kaur.[48] He has four children – Gurdeep Mehndi, Ajit Kaur Mehndi, Prabhjot Kaur Mehndi, and Rabaab Kaur Mehndi. His daughter Ajit Kaur Mehndi is married toNavraj Hans, son of Punjabi singerHans Raj Hans.[49] Gurdeep Mehndi is married toNRI model, Jessica Singh in 2016.[50]
In 1998, Mehndi launched the "Daler Mehndi Green Drive", inducted in the Special Task Force of the Delhi Government.[51] The drive has planted over 1.2 million saplings in and around Delhi.[52][53]
Mehndi has performed for charity forImran Khan's Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust in Pakistan and helped raise $5 million.[54] Mehndi supports charitable causes such as cancer,thalassemia, and AIDS, and has helped to bring up the homeless children ofKenya as well as famine-stricken families in Kalahandi inOrissa, India.[55] He financially supported the families ofKargil martyrs by donating to the Indian government's Kargil Victims' Relief Fund. Mehndi was one of the first celebrities to go and visit the soldiers at Kargil.[56] Mehndi has constructed earthquake-resistant houses for theGujarat earthquake victims; he donated money and performed to raise money for Gujarat cyclone and quake victims, and for police welfare funds. He has donated₹10 million inVadodara for the victims of the cyclone in the government aid fund. He took upon himself the reconstruction of a block devastated in the Gujarat quake in Doodhiya village.[57]
Mehndi has set up a Daler Mehndi Food for Life Society in Chander Vihar, Delhi, where a 24-hour kitchen provides food to the destitute and the underprivileged. Mehndi has constructed a Gurudwara Dukh Bhanjani Sahib where every morning people from all castes and religions join together and offer service in the name of god. Mehndi is the only known Indian artist to be invited by the President ofPakistan as a state guest. He gifted his albumBismillah to the President Zardari of Pakistan and the funds generated from its sale were given to the President's charitable fund.[58]
Mehndi voiced his protest against the International Basketball Federation's (FIBA) controversial ruling on the use ofturbans while playing. The singer made a video to raise awareness about the issue and to have the policy changed.[59][60][61]
He entered in politics by joiningBharatiya Janata Party on 26 April 2019.[2]
Mehndi and six others were accused in 2003 of cheating people of large sums of money by falsely promising to take them to America.[5] In March 2018, Mehndi was sentenced to two years in prison byPatiala court in a human trafficking case. The singer and his brother Shamsher were charged for illegally sending people abroad as a part of their dance troupes. Daler was arrested after registration of the case and released on bail after a few days.[62] Mehndi said he will appeal against the conviction in a higher court.[5][63]
The Patiala court dismissed his appeal in 2022 and upheld the two year imprisonment, but shortly thereafter his sentence was suspended by the Punjab and Haryana high court and Mehndi was granted bail in September 2022.[64][65]
 | This section of abiography of a living persondoes notinclude anyreferences or sources. Please help by addingreliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourcedmust be removed immediately. Find sources: "Daler Mehndi" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(November 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| This section of abiography of a living persondoes notinclude anyreferences or sources. Please help by addingreliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourcedmust be removed immediately. Find sources: "Daler Mehndi" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(November 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Year | Song title | Film title | Co-singer | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | "Na Na Na Na Re" | Mrityudatta | Sudesh Bhosle | Hindi |
| 1999 | "Kudiyan Shaher Diyan" | Arjun Pandit | Alka Yagnik | |
| 2000 | "Nach Baby Nach Kudi" | Khauff | Asha Bhosle | |
| 2003 | "Kajrare Kajrare Nainawale" | Chupke Se | solo | |
| 2004 | "Ru-Ba-Ru" | Maqbool | Rakesh Pandit,Sabir Khan,Dominique Cerejo | |
| "Nachley" | Lakeer – Forbidden Lines | Kunal Ganjawala | ||
| Agar Zindagi Se | Wajahh: A Reason To Kill | solo | ||
| 2005 | "Ishq Aasan Hai" | Bullet: Ek Dhamaka | ||
| "Bhool Na Jaying" | Ramji Londonwaley | Rakesh Pandit | ||
| 2006 | "Rang De Basanti" | Rang De Basanti | K. S. Chithra | |
| "Tutiya Ve" | Shaadi Se Pehle | solo | ||
| 2007 | "Doha" | Just Married | ||
| "Hum Raks" | Kaafila | Sukhwinder Singh | ||
| "Rabbaru Gajulu" | Yamadonga | Rabbaru Gajulu | Telugu | |
| "Talwar Re" | Chhodon Naa Yaar | Sunidhi Chauhan | Hindi | |
| "Talwar Re (Remix)" | Sunidhi Chauhan,Anand Raj Anand | |||
| "Talwar Re (Dhol Mix)" | Sunidhi Chauhan | |||
| "Kash Laga" | No Smoking | Sukhwinder Singh,Vishal Bhardwaj | ||
| "Halla Bol" | Goal | solo | ||
| "Aasman Ko Chukar" | Return of Hanuman | |||
| 2024 | "Na Na Na Na Na Re" | Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video | Gurdeep Mehndi |
With sum ofRs 2.5 Crores Daler was supposed to make Music Video.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
