METRO’S PUNJABI POWER

Once Tarun Nayar began working on the new documentary Bhangra City, one thing became abundantly clear: He and his bandmates/producing partners Delhi 2 Dublin were definitely on to something.

“One of the things that has blown my mind with making this documentary is how strong of a culture we have here locally,” says Nayar. “We’re producing some of the biggest names in Punjabi music, whether it is folk or pop.

“It has been a real eye-opening experience for me in terms of the level of talent that was here.”

Bhangra City will have its world premiere as part of the City of Bhangra Festival in Vancouver and Surrey, which starts Sunday and runs until June 17. The film and three others make up the Reel Bhangra Short Film Fest on at Vancity on June 12. In the film, Nayar acts as a tour guide of sorts, taking viewers into the scene from local weddings to huge concerts. He even travels to India, plays pool and talks paths taken with international megastar Jazzy B, who grew up in Surrey.

The film is full of light, fun moments including the fine art of crashing a South Asian wedding. Memo to self: Go directly to the bar. But the colourful toe-tapping, tight offering doesn’t shy away from the racism issues that see South Asian artists virtually left out of the mainstream.

It’s kind of weird when you consider the size of the audiences that Bhangra artists pull in. A recent Diljit Dosanjh concert in Abbotsford had 8,000 people in attendance. Local DJ Intense has 60 million views on one single. So there are the numbers.

There’s also the reputation. The film claims Surrey is gaining an international credibility, lining up not far behind Birmingham, England, and Pakistan itself as a Bhangra centre. Punjabi folk music mixed with dance, the art of Bhangra itself has become a bit of melting pot as DJs mix traditional with modern electronic. It’s that blending that seems to be guaranteeing grassroots support.

“I didn’t spend a lot of time in Surrey/Abbotsford until we started shooting this,” says Nayar, who moved to Vancouver from Montreal about 20 years ago. “We went and hung out with kids that are equally at home at FVDED in the Park in Surrey and then equally at home at the Diljit Dosanjh concert in Abbotsford.”

Also on the bill are the following films: I Want to Kill Myself, directed by Vivek Shraya (Canada, 2017), Brown Girls (Ep7) by Fatimah Asghar (U.S., 2017), and Rakhi Mutta’s Haneri (Canada, 2017).