Diljit Dosanjh tweaks song lyrics at Hyd show, hints at double standards

Punjabi star Diljit Dosanjh sang modified lyrics to his chartbusters Lemonade and 5 Taara at the Hyderabad show of his Dil-Luminati India Tour 2024 tour on Saturday, 17 November, days after receiving a notice from the Telangana government directing him to not sing any songs promoting alcohol, drugs or violence at the concert.

Clips of the popular singer-actor from the gig are circulating online where he can be heard singing 'tainu teri coke ch pasand aa lemonade' instead of 'tainu teri daaru ch pasand aa lemonade' from the song Lemonade. Similarly, the lyrics in 5 Taara became '5 taara hotel ch' instead of the original '5 taara theke utte'.

During the show, Diljit spoke to the audience alluding to the notice, which also restricted the singer from using children on stage. His decision to alter the lyrics of his tracks to comply with the notice shows his willingness to respect local rules, but his criticism highlights a broader issue of perceived double standards when it comes to the treatment of local versus international artistes.

Diljit's point about international artistes not facing similar restrictions is an important one. It suggests that local performers, especially those from regional or cultural backgrounds, might be held to a higher standard compared to their international counterparts. This could be seen as a form of censorship that limits the creative freedom of artistes, especially in a multicultural space like Hyderabad, where a variety of global artistes perform without facing similar limitations.

"If an artiste comes from outside the country, they can sing or do whatever they want, there's no tension. But when your artiste is coming home to perform, you have a problem, you create trouble. But I'll tell you something. God is with me, I won't let this go," he said.

The 40-year-old called out naysayers questioning how his concerts were going 'house-full'. "Many people are unable to digest why such big shows are happening. How are these tickets getting sold in two minutes? Bro, I've been working for a long time now. I didn't become famous in a day," he added.

Diljit also addressed black market sales of his shows' tickets, urging victims to alert authorities in the first hour of the incident by calling 1930, the toll-free helpline number for reporting online cyber crime.

"Some people buy tickets early so that they can re-sell them. This has become a norm. This happens in big international shows even today. This will be fixed in time, the government is trying to work on this."

Diljit will perform his next show in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

With PTI inputs