Punjabi pop music sensation, Jasbir Jassi enthralls at the Times Pune Festival

Jasbir Jassi is all geared up to enthrall Puneites with his brand of Punjabi pop music at the Times Pune Festival
In a day and age where two-minute fame is all that matters and everyone is craving to be in the spotlight, Jasbir Jassi’s approach towards music comes like a whiff of fresh air. Not the one to desire fame and name merely in just B-town, Jasbir says, “Bollywood is not my target simply because I feel that film music will restrict me and my music.
Yes, Laung da lashkara did become a hit, but most of the songs that are being written in Bollywood these days are sans quality. Barring a few, bahut saare gaano mein shayari thodi halki aur sasti hoti jaa rahi hai. In fact, it is for these reasons that I refuse to sing many songs!” Giving us an example, he says, “There is this song in Desi Boyz called Tere pichche pichche aaya jhak maar ke…which I recorded. However, when I came home and listened to it again and again I felt it was just not me! I didn’t feel in sync with the song at all. So I called the producer and music director told him what I felt and they replaced the singer.”
Show-stopper Veer to the topic of the Times Pune Festival and Jasbir says, “I love performing in Pune and the awesome weather adds value to a performance. It’s such a pleasant, clean and green city that I love coming here. In fact, I was here for a police show and New Year’s too and I enjoyed myself.” Ask him if his shows are pre-designed or does he often take the impromptu route and he says, “I do plan of course, but a lot of the times it depends on how the crowd responds to your songs.
And I’ve had a great experience when it comes to Times Festivals. They give the artist a platform to directly connect with the audience, which is fabulous. When I performed in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad bahut mazaa aaya tha. The people who attend festivals have a good taste in music. Sometimes, I see that the crowd is on their feet dancing away, then I sing those kind of songs. But, when I see at places where the crowd is even enjoying the soulful tracks, I sing accordingly. I like to go with the mood of the audience.”
As the singer speaks of relenting to the mood of the audience when doing a show, ask him about his personal favourites and he says, “I sing a lot of Punjabi pop, but I personally love it when I give a classical touch to these songs. I enjoy singing the verses of Baba Bullesha, Amir Khusro etc. That’s why I believe in bringing out my private albums. It’s the only way I can leave my mark on music. Else how will people identify with my kind of music? Late Jagjit Singh stuck to singing his kind of music; I don’t think he was less successful than any other popular singers.”