Diljit Dosanjh opens up on disparity in rules during Dil-Luminati Tour, says ‘Censorship films mein bhi laga do’

Punjabi superstar singer Diljit Dosanjh, who was barred from singing songs that included alcohol, drugs or violence during his Hyderabad concert of the Dil-Luminati Tour, has opened up during his Lucknow concert.

Addressing his fans at the Lucknow concert on 22 November, Diljit highlighted the disparity in censorship rules between songs and films. He opined that no one points fingers when many prominent actors appear in scenes endorsing alcohol consumption, but singers often become easy targets for such accusations.

Speaking on the stage, Diljit said, as quoted by India Today, “Ek anchor sahab hai TV pe unke baare mein baat karna chahta hoon, mujhe challenge kar rahe the ki bina sharab ke gaana hit kar ke bataye. For your kind information sir, Born To Shine, Kinni Kinni, GOAT, Naina, Lover… mere bahot saare gaane hai jo Patiala Peg se bahot zyada hit hai. Aapka challenge toh bekaar ho gaya (There’s an anchor I’d like to talk about. He challenged me to create a hit song without references to alcohol. For your kind information, sir, Born To Shine, Kinni Kinni, GOAT, Naina, and Lover are just a few of my songs that are far bigger hits than Patiala Peg. So, your challenge doesn’t hold any ground).”

He even argued that same standards should be applied to Indian cinema as well if his songs are subjected to censorship.

He said, “I am not defending my songs. I just want to say that if you’ll want to censor songs then the censorship should be on Indian cinema as well. Which big actor has not done an alcohol song or scene? Censorship films mein bhi laga do (same censorship should be applied in films as well).”

“But mera kaam sasta kaam nahi hai (My work is not cheap), my films have received National Film Awards as well. It’s very easy for us to run a disclaimer that alcohol is injurious to health during concerts and sing songs, but then it will look like we are targetting someone. So, if you have spread fake news, I challenge you to run the correct news. I am not at all angry with anyone,” Diljit concluded.

Dosanjh brought his Dil-Luminati Tour to India after captivating US, Canada, and Europe audiences. His India leg began in Delhi on 26 October. His next concert is slated to take place in Pune in 24 November.

Diljit Dosanjh’s Hyderabad concert:

The Telangana government served him a notice ahead of Diljit’s concert in Hyderabad and directed him not to sing any songs promoting alcohol, drugs or violence. The singer sang modified lyrics to his chartbusters Lemonade and 5 Taara, replacing the word ‘daaru’ with ‘Coke’ and ‘theke’ with ‘hotel’.