He had us at Oye

I thought 2022 was the year of Diljit Dosanjh. The Punjabi actor-singer took his 'Born to Shine World Tour' across the globe, filling up stadiums like no other Indian had before him. Then I thought last year was his year; Dosanjh became the first Indian to perform at Coachella, the revered music festival in Colorado. We are only half-way into 2024, and Dosanjh has become the first Indian to perform live on the popular American show, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

- NAMRATA ZAKARIA

Have we lost possibly our greatest artiste to the west? Far from it. You know the old chestnut: You can take a Punjabi out of Punjab but you can’t take Punjab out of a Punjabi? Dosanjh is a son of his soil, who takes his home wherever he goes. He wears his culture, his ‘Punjabiyat’, on his sleeve. Punjabiyat loosely refers to a love for the Punjabi language and traditional dress, but it is more of an attitude, a sort of tub-thumping regional pride.