A strong bond with Kannada FilmyMeet

At a time when Kannadigas are facing flak virtually, including being called ‘racists’, a new love story between a Sikh and Kanndigas was building on on another side. This is the bond between the singer from Ludhiana, Jaskaran Singh, and the people of Karnataka.

Jaskaran became a household name in Karnataka with his famed song “Dwapara” from the hit film, Krishnam Pranaya Sakhi, composed by Arjun Janya. The song not only brought Golden Star Ganesh back into the spotlight from the side wings of shadows, but also catapulted Jaskaran into a household name.

He is a Sikh, trained in Hindustani music, who effortlessly and fluently croons romantic melodies in Kannada, with perfect diction and pronunciation! The singer is, today, one of the most sought-after playback singers in the Kannada film industry and is all set for the release of his next release Anshu on November 21. Jaskaran has sung the song “Neenu Nambo Naale”, composed and arranged by KC Balasarangan. The film is written and directed by MC Channakeshava, while the song is picturised on the lead character, Nisha Ravikrishnan (Gattimela fame).

With composer Arjun Janya
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

This song, too, like “Dwapara” has gone viral and Jaskaran’s place is sealed in the land of Karnataka and its cinematic kingdom. The actor, who is busy promoting the film with team, talks to us about music, films and his love for Kannada from his residence in Banashankari.

Anshu with Nisha, Jaskaran says: “feels great, because a few years ago we performed together for Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Kannada. I was a contestant and Nisha was a celebrity artiste. Together, we sang the famous song, “Ondu Mallebillu”. Our duet went viral at that time, and now, again years later, to be singing a song picturised on Nisha, feels great,” says Jaskaran, who was noticed in this very show by composer Arjun Janya who a judge in the reality show and offered him the song “Dwapara” and the rest is history.

“ ‘Neenu Nambo Naale’ also was offered by the director of Anshu after he saw the same performance of mine and reached out to me in January this year. “Neenu Nambo Naale” is very different from “Dwapara” when it comes to the moon and execution of the song itself. “Dwapara” is a romantic-fun song, while “Neenu Nambo Naale” is intense and loaded with emotions. It talks about a moment when one is betrayed by everyone and feels very alone. As the mood on screen is intense, I too had to sing with equal intensity. That was the challenge for Anshu,” says the singer, who is a fan of Diljit Dosanjh and Arjun Janya. “I have been a huge fan of Diljit since I was a child and believe he is a great artiste, while Arjun sir draws me with his music style and he composes the types of song I have always dreamed of singing. Besides that he also gave me my first break with ‘Dwapara’, so he will always be special.”

Jaskaran has sung songs in Tamil and Telugu and “singing in a new language has its own challenges. I listen to the words, tune and the song quite a few times to understand the emotion and the storyline in which the song is set in. I also sit with someone and learn the diction and only then dive into the singing part. If I sing a song in Hindi or Punjabi in minutes, singing in Kannada, Tamil or Telugu takes me a lot more time with all the pre-preps,” says Jaskaran, who is trained in Hindustani classical music and never dreamt he would become a celebrity playback singer in Kannada films.

“It all started with me venturing into the Tamil Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, which got a great response and led me to doing stage shows abroad. I was doing well, then COVID hit and my singing took a backseat.” Post this, he sang Telugu songs, but nothing prepared him for the fame that awaited him post “Dwapara”.

With actor Ganesh celebrating the success of the film Krishnam Pranaya Sakhi
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

This song did well even beyond the boundaries of Karnataka with influencers and tiktokers in India and abroad making the song go viral with reels featuring the song and the signature dance steps by Ganesh in the film! Earlier, the singer shuttled between his home in Ludhiana and Bengaluru, but in May this year, he shifted base to Bengaluru and lives in Banashankari now. Though he is doing well in Punjabi, Hindi and other languages, “I want to focus 100% on Kannada music as I have received so much love here. I am also learning to speak Kannada and feel this is my way to honour the people here for the love I get here. I have lived across the country, but have not seen the kind of love and passion people of Karnataka have towards their language and culture. This is really special and makes me feel good too.”

In fact, jaskaran has become such a huge celebrity in Karnataka that people have given him the title — Jas Kannada. “I feel humbled and am currently making a musical album also titled ‘Jas Kannada’, which I plan to release in the near future.” He also adds: “We Indians are lucky that we have so many languages and cultures to discover and live with. Instead of feeling threatened, I believe we should love the diversity as we are the only country that is so diverse. And no harm in learning the language of the place you live in. I do not see any problem in this as this only honours the place we live in. Every language in India is beautiful, and knowing to speak more than one language only becomes a plus point for us.”