Diljit Dosanjh's Patiala peg gets the loudest cheer in Mumbai

Fifteen minutes into his Mumbai concert Punjabi pop icon Diljit Dosanjh said ldquoThere is nothing greater for any artiste than the love of their fansrdquo Probably this love is driving his DilLuminati Tour even as he faces multitudes of advisories before each concert starting from Hyderabad to even the Maximum CityDiljit DosanjhBefore his December 19 concert at the Mahalaxmi Race Course the Maharashtra government issued an advisory restricting him from performing songs that promoted alcohol drugs and violence Dosanjh in his defiant style addressed the elephant in the metaphorical room ldquoIrsquove just returned from Kashmir Our fauji brothers are taking such great care of everyone Itrsquos right when they say Kashmir is the jannat on earth When I returned I was wondering about the next advisory You donrsquot worry about it the advisory is for me Irsquoll make sure you have double the funrdquo he promised his cheering fans whose enthusiasm couldnrsquot be dampened by the winter smog or the long walk they had to undertake from the race coursersquos gate Dosanjh easily one of Indiarsquos most popular exports to the West today referred to the Sagar Manthan to hit back at the negativity that has been brought upon his India concerts He said ldquoThe poison was taken by Shiv But Shiv did not consume the poison he held it in his throat So I have learnt that life and the world might throw poison at you but you should never take it in you Donrsquot let your work sufferrdquoDiljit DosanjhStarting his gig at 8 pm the musician performed his biggest chartbusters Lover Naina and even the contentious Patiala peg by tweaking its lyrics He cheekily said ldquoThis is the song they have the maximum issues with How can I not perform this onerdquo Clearly he isnrsquot designed to toe the line The establishment might need to get used to it because the crowds cheered the loudest for that one The advisory barred him from bringing children on stage So Dosanjh had ladders erected around the stage and towards the end of the concert went down to pose for selfies with the fans The eveningrsquos highlight was his performance of Shiv Kumar Batalvirsquos Ikk kudi The stage turned blue and bubbles filled the sky as the singer with his rendition transported the crowd to another realmAmidst bhangra and beers mdashthankfully the liquor license in Mumbai wasnrsquot cancelled unlike in a few other citiesmdashthe concert was winsome But the bigger win is that a desi musician has charted his way to become one of the biggest in the world today That deserves the loudest cheer Next time to facilitate the cheering that left my throat parched may we request the organisers to serve water by the bottle To pay R50 per glass is a bit steep