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Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh tweaked the lyrics to his hit songs ‘Pehle Lalkare’, ‘Lemonade’ and ‘5 Taara’, to replace mentions of “daaru” (alcohol) and “theka” (liquor store), with Coke and hotel (third song), respectively.
The move gathered positive feedback from the crowds and on social media, with the official account for Coca-Cola thanking Dosanjh for the free publicity.
Coca-Cola Shows Support, Praise
In a video posted on the ‘teamdiljitglobal’ Instagram page, the popular singer-songwriter can be seen performing Pehle Lalkare during his ‘Dil-Luminati India Tour 2024 Tour’ concert in Hyderabad on November 16 (Saturday) with the modified lyrics.
The modified lyrics being as follows: “Dooja kamm bottlaan de datt pattne” became “Dooja kamm Coke de datt pattne.”
In its response, Coca-Cola used Dosanjh’s song lyrics to support the singer. Since Pehle Lalkare lists three things the singer wants to do, the beverage giant added a fourth, stating: “Chautha kaam twade gaane japne” (fourth task is worshipping your songs) with a smiley and heart emoji.
Diljit Takes Jab At Notices
Taking a swipe at the notice at his show in Ahmedabad on November 17 (Sunday), the singer told the audience: “There’s some good news. I didn’t get any notice today. There’s more good news: I’ll not sing a single song on alcohol today either. Ask me why? Because Gujarat is a dry state.”
The 40-year-old singer said he was a teetotaler and was even willing to take a pledge to not make such songs but the governments of each state should declare themselves dry states.
“Let’s do something, let’s start a movement. If all states declare themselves dry states, I’ll stop singing songs on alcohol from the very next day… I will stop singing about alcohol, you shut the ‘thekas’ in the country… I take a pledge. Is this possible? It’s a big source of revenue. Everything was shut in corona (pandemic), except the thekas. You can’t fool the youth,” he added.
“I sing my songs and leave. Why are you messing with me? I have sung over dozens of devotional songs… There are dozens of Bollywood songs on alcohol. I barely have two-four songs like these. I’ll not sing them today either. It’s very easy for me to tweak the songs because I’m a teetotaler. Bollywood artists endorse alcohol, Diljit Dosanjh doesn’t,” he added.
The musician is on a 10-city tour as part of his “Dil-Luminati India Tour 2024 Tour”, which will conclude in Guwahati on December 29.