‘Animal’ brings Babar and Prakh Giani to limelight: Not enough Punjabi music in Bollywood

The pre-teaser of Sandeep Vanga’s ‘Animal’ was released 5 months ago and showcased the Punjabi song ‘Arjun Vairay’ shot with Ranbir Kapoor, which made the whole world fall in love with the singer. I came to know about the existence of Bhupinder Babar, a folk legend of Punjab. The pre-teaser has been viewed 35 million times so far.

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Twelve days ago, Babar’s full song was released and the movie has crossed 25 million views ahead of its theatrical release on Friday.

A week ago, the trailer of the film was released and has so far garnered 72 million views and is another hit Punjabi number ‘Saari’ which depicts the father-son relationship of Anil Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor. Duniya Jala Denge” was also introduced.

The song is sung by national award-winning Punjabi singer B Praak and has music and lyrics by young Punjabi lyricist Jaani. Prak and Jaani have partnered on many Punjabi superhit songs in the past and in fact, almost all recent Punjabi films feature their songs.

The success of both songs, trending on Instagram Reels and YouTube, confirms Bollywood’s love for Punjabi music and why the Hindi film industry cannot survive without the oomph of Punjabi numbers.

Babar is a well-known face in the Punjabi folk music industry and lives a simple life in Kurari, Punjab, near Chandigarh. The veteran singer has showcased the state’s culture in her previous works. The song ‘Arjan Vaillay’ in his strong and impactful voice captures the violence and intensity that Ranbir portrayed on screen.

Babar also wrote the lyrics of this song, which refers to the use of sickles and axes against enemies in battles by Punjabi Jats. The same is being portrayed on screen as Ranbir is seen in a bloody battle with a group of axe-wielding men.

The song has brought national attention to Babar’s voice and other filmmakers are considering collaborating with him in the future, sources close to Babar told News18.

Partnership between Plaque and Giani

B Praak came into the limelight in 2021 after winning the National Award for his patriotic number ‘Teri Matthi Mein Mir Javaan’ in the 2019 Akshay Kumar starrer ‘Kesari’.

Prak and Giani have been collaborating on songs for years, with their biggest hit being the Punjabi number ‘Mann Bharrya’, which was released six years ago and has amassed a whopping 350 million views on YouTube. Plaque sang the song and Giani wrote the lyrics.

The same song was recreated by Prak and Giani two years ago for the hit film Shershah starring Sidharth and Kiara Adani, which also racked up nearly 250 million views. In fact, Giani is the most popular Punjabi lyricist and has composed many blockbuster Punjabi numbers sung by the likes of Amy Virk and Harry Sandhu.

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In fact, Jaani, Praak and Sandhu collaborated to create one of the biggest Punjabi hits, ‘Bijlee Bijlee’, which racked up 515 million views on YouTube two years ago. Sandhu sang the song, the music was by Prak, and the lyrics were by Giani.

Another Punjabi song, ‘Titrian’, with lyrics written by Giani and sung by Sandhu, was released in 2020 and has amassed a whopping 908 million views. Prak is 37 years old and Giani is 34 years old.