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[Ritujay Ghosh]

A multi-colour dress coupled with the stone embedded turban that he wears when he performs leaves no doubt that this is none other than Daler Mehndi, the badsha of bhangra. Daler is as colorful as his attire. "That's how bhangra should be. The genre is so colourful and without such attire one can't get the true flavour of bhangra," says Mehndi.

Mehndi, who believes that a signer must also be a good performer, is brilliant on stage. "One has to make people feel that they are getting the true flavour of the song. There's no better place than a live performance for a singer to prove himself," he says.

Is this the reason we don't find him singing too often in Bollywood? Daler has sung in about a dozen films in Bollywood, though all have been hits. The last was the title track of Rang De Basanti, which is still ruling the charts a year after its release.

"I enjoy singing but Bollywood is not my first priority. I sing only when I understand that I will be able to do justice to the song with the typical voice I have," he says.

Mehndi, who is from the Patiala gharana, will be soon heard singing for music director Pritam in Meghna Gluzar's Just Married. "It's not a typical bhangra number. It's a melodious and slow-paced track called Doha penned by Gulzaarsaab. It's a sentimental track and I really enjoyed doing it," says the singer. There are other films, too, on the anvil but the singer remains tight-lipped about it.

Apart from the live shows, the singer has also been busy with his forthcoming album, which is nearing completion. I can promise my audience that the next album will be as good as my earlier work. There are a number of surprises this time," he says.

The singer is happy about music director AR Rahman's songs being nominated for the Oscars. "It's a great achievement and I wish him luck. He is one of the few who know how to bring out the best from singers," says Mehndi.

The bhangra king these days has the additional responsibility of judging the talent hunt contest Fame X."There are so many talented contestants who are giving there best out there. Judging them is a big responsibility," says Mehndi.

-Route to sucess-
Early beginnings: Daler Mehndi was born and brought up in Patna and started performing at the age of five.
Varied expertise: The bhangra singer also knows how to play tabla and tanpura, which he learnt from his uncle, the noted Raahat Ali Khan Saheb, when he was 14 years old.
Family Affairs: The singer got married in 1986 and then went to San Fransisco, US, where he worked for a while as a taxi driver to earn his living before he returned to India in 1991.
Classical touch: Mehndi was initially inclined toward ghazals and had also learnt classical singing before switching over to pop. His first album, Bolo Ta Ra Ra (1995), was a bhangra pop album that went on to become a big hit.
Big-screen debut: He danced with actor Amitabh Bachchan in Na na na na na re in Mrityudata. This was Mehndi's debut song in Bollywood, which was a hit.

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