The Daler Mehndi Chat
Daler Mehndi did not want to win a single Channel [V] award. This is what told fellow Rediff chatters a week before the awards. Then, Indypop's biggest star went on to win six awards -- Best Indian Album, Best Indian Male Artiste, Best Indian Live Performer -- non-film, Best Indian Composer -- non-film, Best Selling Album Of The Year and Best Compilation Album.
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:10 IST)
Sat Sri Akal! I have arrived. I am ready to answer your questions. Sorry for the delay and thank you for waiting.
Jogiya khalli walli (Mon Nov 9 1998 5:45 IST)
Hey Daler Mehndi, all in all, u r a brilliant performer. But I hate your videos. The models aren't pretty. Please cum up with neat models...
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:13 IST)
Jogiya kahlli walli: I am very upset to hear that you dislike the models in my video. I am not sad that you hate my video, but that you have not seen my latest video Tunak Tunak Tun. It has no dancers, no models, no choreographers, no backdrop, only a powerful voice and your performer Daler Mehndi. Please hear my new album and then tell me how you like it. Always yours.
Balle Balle (Mon Nov 9 1998 5:47 IST)
Daler Praji :-) Sir, aap kamal ke artiste hain. Thank you for coming to chat with us today. MAY YOU WIN EVERY CHANNEL V AWARD :-) Who do you think will win this year?
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:25 IST)
Balle Balle: I have studied the Channel V awards for three years and noticed a very sad fact. The first winner was Alisha Chinai, the second was Colonial Cousins and the third was Lucky Ali. ALL of them disappeared without a trace AFTER winning the Channel V Viewer's Choice Award. So I am requesting all my fans, please hear my music but don't vote for me because I still want to stay on in the market. I am happy with the Best Male Vocalist award!!
White Lightning (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:16 IST)
Dalerji, how did your interest in music develop. Did u play any instrument at a very young age or sing at school ?
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:28 IST)
White Lightning: I started singing when I was five years old. My first teachers were my Dad, Shri Ajmer Singh Chandan, my mother, Balbir Kaurji, and my ustad, Rahat Ali Khan Saheb, who taught me when I was 14 years old in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. I play the tabla, harmonium and the tanpura. My classical gharana is the Patiala gharana. And I'm still learning.
Freddy mercury (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:26 IST)
Magar aapko musibat se award mila to kya karoge?
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:29 IST)
Freddy Mercury: To agle saal, super-duper hit album doonga.
Jiban Mukherjee (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:28 IST)
Daler Mehndi: How come your music follows the same beat? Is it a limitation of Bhangra music or is it a limitation of yr music?
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:31 IST)
Jiban Mukherjee: It is the limitation of Bhangra that gives a similar beat. In my fourth album, all the songs are different, so hear it carefully.
Anjaana (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:25 IST)
Hey Daler... What is your connection with Rewa, MP? ;)
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:33 IST)
Anjaana: I have some relatives in Rewa, MP. But I have heard so much about Rewa, that it is a very nice place. I have not been there, but I intend to go there. My elder brother Shamsher Singh has been to Rewa and people think that I have been there, since we two look alike.
Smiling Assasin (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:32 IST)
Daler, do you listen to or like English pop or Rock music. Do you plan to borrow musical riffs from there?
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:35 IST)
Smiling Assassin: I love English music, but if I don't have my own creation and my own music, then today there would have been no Daler Mehndi. My music style and composition is 100 per cent Indian, Indypop!
Shahid Afridi (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:35 IST)
Hi Dalerji! Namaskar!
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:36 IST)
Shahid Afridi: Namaskar, ji. Khuda aapko hamesha khush rakhe aur my music se bhi aap ka naata bana rahe. Allah hafiz
gagandeep (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:36 IST)
Hello, veerjee! I am Gagan and I am your pankha
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:40 IST)
Gagandeep: Hello, Gaganbhai. Aap apne pakhe se pyar ki hava isi tara dete rahana, rab rakha.
Manish (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:36 IST)
Why so much talk about Rewa? Why not talk about yr future shows and albums?
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:41 IST)
Everyone out there! I am doing 16 shows in the USA, five in Canada, three in London and five in South Africa. This is sufficient information for you people in advance. Thank you.
Sheila Singh (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:41 IST)
Mr Mehndi: Are you married. If yes, when and how? Do you have any children?
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:42 IST)
Sheila: I am still a bachelor. Akela hoon, bimar hoon.
anju (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:41 IST)
What's your new album????
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:45 IST)
anju: My new album was released one month ago all over India and the world. It is called Tunak Tunak Tun and it has already sold 1.5 million copies in India. This is the biggest achievement in pop music. It also set a record when, in Channel V's Indian Top 10, it entered the charts as #1.
Rishab Ganguly (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:43 IST)
Mr Mehndi: There are certain allegations against you that you don't pay your lyricist even after getting Rs 1.5 crore from Magnasound. Is it true?
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:54 IST)
Rishab Ganguly: Perhaps you don't know but I have started the Daler Singh Mehndi Green Drive, the aim of which is Green India, Clean India. All the money is coming from my savings to make Delhi green and clean. It will take five years to make Delhi green and 10 years to make it clean. You cannot even imagine the money this is costing. I am paying my lyric writer Rs 500 per song and I have insisted that Magnasound pay every lyric writer Rs 5,000 per song. If I am willing to spend money on polluted cities like Delhi, Agra and Ludhiana from my trust, then would I hesitate to pay my lyric writer? These rumours are all untrue, spread to defame me.
Happy Singh (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:47 IST)
Daler Mehndiji, main aapka kadardaan hoon... Meri zindagi ki tamaanna hai ke main aapse milu. Tussi mujhe bade pasand ho; mere bachche, chunnu, munnu, aapke fan hai
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:55 IST)
Happy Singh: Pls contact my DM Fan Club and we will give you more information.
Alka (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:32 IST)
Daler Mehndi: How come you are writing in English when I believe that you can't speak in English. In all your interviews, you say that you know only Hindi/Punjabi plain speak
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:58 IST)
Alka: Aap ke information ke liye, I have studied in Berkeley Universtiy, California, USA. But I love my country, I live in India and earn here and, keeping this in mind, I prefer to speak and write more in Hindi. Nevertheless, aap ka shukriya.
Balle (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:56 IST)
Daler: Please give the DM Fan club address agin
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:59 IST)
Balle: DM Fan Club, PO Box 6602, Tilak Nagar, New Delhi -- 110018, India.
Rakhee (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:48 IST)
Mr Mehndi: Which was your first album? And how did you get your first break? Can you tell us something about it?
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 8:0 IST)
Rakhee: My first album was Bolo Tara Ra Ra with Magnasound.
Shaheen (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:59 IST)
Mr Mehndi: Don't you think people will get bored if you play same kind of tunes again and again. See Lucky Ali, he failed because his music is monotonus. Why don't you try your luck with other kinds of Indian music??
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 8:1 IST)
Shaheen: If the public is bored of my music, then my latest album would not have sold 1.5 million copies. This is a record.
Alka (Mon Nov 9 1998 7:57 IST)
Mr Mehndi: But don't you think Rs 500 is too less to survive and, more importantly, you must shell some more amount for the lyric writer considering the fact that Sushma Swaraj is there to take care of Delhi. I am sorry to say that it's exploitation.
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 8:3 IST)
Alka: Are you my fan or a lyric writer? If you are not a lyric writer and you are feeling hurt about the payments to lyric writers, then do send us some money for the lyric writer or to Nashad (music director), who runs a institution for their benefit. I am glad that you are so concerned about lyric writers.
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 8:6 IST)
Thank you, everyone. I am very happy to have interacted with all of you for the first time and to have chatted so much. If something I said hurt any of you, I request your forgiveness and I shall endeavour to keep giving all of you good music and good videos. Good luck to you and me.
Alka (Mon Nov 9 1998 8:4 IST)
Mr Mehndi: I think you are getting angry. I am your fan. My intention is not to hurt you. My apologies.
Daler Mehndi (Mon Nov 9 1998 8:7 IST)
Alka: No hard feelings. Bye.
Continued
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