Surjit Bindrakhia:
| Surjit Bindrakhia |
Jithe Marji Ja album cover
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| Background information |
| Origin |
Bindrakh, Rupnagar |
Surjit Bindrakhia (Born Surjit Singh Bains) April 15, 1962 – November 17, 2003 was a Punjabi Bhangra singer. He is known for his hekh, in which he sings a note continuously in one breath. His hits include Dupatta Tera Satrang Da, Bas Kar Bas Kar, Hit Geetan Da Guldasta, Tera Yaar Bolda, Lak Tunoo Tunoo and Jatt Di Pasand. Surjit is considered to have the greatest voice in bhangra history.
Surjit Bindrakhia had arguably the most powerful voice among Bhangra singers during his time. Throaty, with a range that never fails to astound, he was possibly the most successful traditional artist doing the rounds of the bhangra scene during his time. Surjit had been known in Punjab for many years, but his big break in the expatriate market came with Dupatta Tera Sat Rang Da a track that can only be called explosive. Since then there have been remixes of his older songs and a few new releases.Surjit Bindrakhia is credited as being the first international superstar in bhangra music. His song Dupatta Tera Sat Rang Da holds the record for being the number one punjabi song on UK charts for weeks.
Immensely popular in the rural belt of Punjab, Bindrakhia’s voice was considered to be one of the most powerful voices among traditional singers in Punjab. He had cut 32 solo audio cassettes during his decade-long career. Surjit had been known in the Punjab for many years, but his big break in the expatriate market came with Dupatta Tera Sat Rang Da a track that can only be called explosive. Since then there had been various remixes of his older songs and some blockbuster new releases, including ‘Tu Ni Boldi’ and ‘Jatt Di Pasand’ Bindrakhia was a traditional bhangra singer, and since most of his work had been produced in India, it may at first have appeared unpolished. Certainly the music is more “rustic” than that found on many bhangra bands from the UK, but that did not reduce its impact. There are more sustained dhol beats in Bindrakhia’s work than you would find elsewhere and the style is traditional.
A note must be made of the high tone Bindrakhia sometimes uses, which sounded like a screech. You can find others trying such vocal pryotechnics, but few can pulled it off as Bindrakhia did. His singing style worked with the beat, so you would find him pausing along with the dhol and raising and shifting into different keys as the dhol does. All of this gave Bindrakhia the air of a child gone a little mad with his voice. Stated to be one of the most popular singers in Punjab, Surjit Bindrakhia was considered to be the vital link between traditional Punjabi folk music and modern Punjabi pop.
All of this gives Bindrakhia the air of a child gone a little mad with his voice. Certainly he isn’t serious, except in small doses, most of the songs are very light and fit in with his job (as he sees it) to entertain. He’s exactly what the singers at the “mela"(fair) would be. He’s exactly the sort of singer one would expect to entertain at a country fair.
Bindrakhia died of a heart attack on November 17, 2003 at his home in Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar (Mohali). The high-pitched melodious voice of Punjab fell silent forever with the cremation of Surjeet Bindrakhia.
Many singers and artists attended his bhog and funeral at Bindrakhia's native village Bindrakh. Some of the artists who turned up to pay their last respects to the legend included Hans Raj Hans, Gurpreet Ghuggi, Babbu Mann, his lyricist and a close friend Shamsher Singh Sandhu and his guru and music composer Atul Sharma, and the legendary Gurdas Maan. Bindrakia stormed the market with over 250 million hit sales of which 175 million came from India alone. He later combined with greats such as Surinder Shinda doing live sets.
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