Top Punjabi pop star Gippy Grewal on working with Farhan Akhtar in 'Lucknow Central' and why he won't limit himself to film music
Gippy Grewal
He forayed into Bollywood two years ago to act in a film called 'Second Hand Husband'. But the comedy failed at the box office. However, Punjabi rocker Gippy Grewal will try his luck again with upcoming film 'Lucknow Central' starring Farhan Akhtar. Gippy, who will be seen in the role of a prisoner from Punjab, says he enjoyed working with the actor.
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Fan of Farhan
"Most of my scenes are with Farhan and working with him was amazing. I got to learn a lot. It's a dream to collaborate with an artiste of his stature. I have produced, directed, sung and written scripts for Punjabi films, but working on Lucknow Central helped me hone my skills. We bonded well, as musicians too. He told me how he tours with his band and asked me about my live gigs and musical instruments. Whenever Deepak Dobriyal (co-actor) saw me, he'd start singing my song, Angrezi Beat; everyone would join in," recalls Gippy.
Farhan Akhtar
Unlike his Punjabi contemporaries, including Yo Yo Honey Singh, Badshah and Diljit Dosanjh, Gippy doesn't want to focus on Bollywood music alone. "I have signed five singles with Bhushan Kumar. They are being shot on a lavish scale. One of them, Car Nachdi, is being filmed in LA and Vegas. It will be out by June. Recently, I sang Khulke Dulke (Befikre, 2016) and felt that as an artiste, singing for Bollywood isn't particularly beneficial. For instance, Angrezi Beat was a Bollywood hit (after it was included in Cocktail, 2012), but many don't even know it's my original number."
Beyond film music
Does he not wish to explore Bollywood music at all? Gippy says, "Bhushanji selected three of my songs for films, but I told him I haven't made them for Bollywood. I managed to convince him to release them as singles and use them for movies later, if he wished," he says, reasoning that Yo Yo and Badshah managed to find a foothold in the industry after their singles made it to films. "Their songs were big in Punjab. Badshah's Saturday Saturday and DJ Waley Babu were hits before finding a place in Bollywood. They moved to Mumbai and met filmmakers; that's how they became popular here."
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