Punjabi singers clean sweep college festivals in DU
RDB, Honey Singh main crowd-puller, funds make some repeat stars
College festival organisers, in an attempt to find the pulse of the crowd, have been trying to call various stars and singers who will attract students in plenty. 
The focus of Delhi University (DU) is calling singers who can sing Punjabi numbers adding a little rap, English and Hindi to the songs.
Ramjas College’s annual fest ‘Mosaic’ which will be held between February 8-10 will have star performer Punjabi rapper Honey Singh and singer J star, who according to the students will be a crowd-puller.
“Honey Singh is quite famous with the youths. We spoke to a lot of students who wanted a Punjabi singer in the star performance. Such songs pull students in huge numbers. We are expecting a crowd of above 10,000 students for the show. The singers are charging a bomb, but we have to make it bigger than the last time. We called band Stereo Nation last year and it was a hit,” said Praveen Singh, student union president of Ramjas College.
The recently-over Hindu College festival ‘Mecca’ also had Punjabi singer RDB and a string of other singers like Javed Ali, who concentrated more on Punjabi numbers. ‘Mecca’ was held from February 2-4.
“There was a high demand for Punjabi songs from the students last year also. We called Daler Mehendi. Now after RDB sang a few hits for Akshay Kumar in his movies, majority of the students like him. During RDB’s performance, there were around 30,000 students going out of control,” said Manoj, students union’s president of Hindu College.
The two-day Kamala Nehru College’s annual festival ‘Ullas’, on February 1 and 2, had the band ‘Bombay Rockers’, playing a mix of Punjabi and English songs.
“Punjabi is always accepted here as Delhi has a strong culture of it. Students want it peppy and fast when it comes to bands. Since they are already in a jubilant mood, they want something foot-tapping. Also Punjabi to many students even if is not fluent, is still understandable,” said Shikha Arora, student of KNC.
But, Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur (SGTB) Khalsa College’s festival ‘Lashkara’ calls Punjabi singers mainly because of the paucity of sponsors and funding, year after year.
“We are calling singer Jippy Garewal. He is a well-known singer. Also since the college is primarily Sikh-oreinted, Punjabi songs are liked by the students. Last year also, we called singer Amrinder Gill. This year we are expecting a crowd of over 10,000 students. Due to lack of funds, we have to settle for less-known singers, if there is more money we can call famous Punjabi singers as there is a huge demand for them,” said Somy Solanki, students’ union vice-president SGTB Khalsa College.
But some students find Punjabi rap as spoiling music. “Honey uses a lot of abuses and swear words in his songs. Student tend to like that. I like some of the Punjabi songs and sometimes it is fine, but overall they spoil music,” said Parth Sharma, student at Kirori Mal College.
