WaMu Theater

800 Occidental Ave. S

Seattle

May 17, 2008, Saturday 7:00 PM

Buy tickets online: US $33.00 - US $98.00

GURDAS MAAN

Click HERE to check him out at MySpace.
Click HERE to listen them Now.

Gurdas Maan is a Punjabi singer and actor. He was born on 4 January 1957 in Giddarbaha, Faridkot District, Punjab, India. The legendary Gurdas Maan is today one of the most popular Punjabi’s alive. This bright shining star of Punjabi music and films has held the top spot hostage for nearly two decades. He has maintained an unprecedented universal appeal and won the heart of many global audiences. His style is unique and deviates from that of the many singers around with his extraordinary blend of vocal prowess and charisma that glows in his stage presence. This is the man who started singing as a hobby and never thought he was good enough to become a professional singer until he started winning competitions at college. Since then he has exerted some kind of tidal pull over his audiences. He is one of those rare individuals who hypnotises you with his persona and his power of speech.

This college lecturer who holds a Masters degree in Physical Education and a black belt in Judo exploded into the music world in 1982 with his fisrt recording ‘Dil Da Mamla’ and turned the success of this album into a fruitful film career. Gurdas Mann has practically held the franchise for the promotion of Punjabi values through his elocutionary prowess and poignantly rich songs. His ‘Apna Punjab Hove’ has become a veritable anthem for Punjabi people throughout the world, and he extends his unique talent to respectfully kick start this album.

His song "Dil Da Mamala Hai" brought him national attention in 1980. He has recorded over 27 albums. Gurdas Maan is the real love of Punjab. Gurdas Maan is impressing us with his latest album Vilayatan (immigrant) that was released in December 9, 2005. Some of his hit songs include Heer, Apna Punjab, Peer Tere Jaan Di and Babe Bhangra Paunde Ne...you’ll find songs in any rhythm.

In one of his stage play he sang a song which he wrote himself and called "DIL DA MAMALA HAI". The play was seen by a producer of a Jalandhar TV station, who than approached him for a TV recording of his song, which Gurdas reluctantly agreed to. When the song was aired on December 31, 1980 it stormed the nation and Gurdas Maan became a household name. The overwhelming success of the song grabbed the attention of HMV who wanted to record the song and from this came his second album in 1981.

He has produced over 27 albums and has written over 200 songs. He also wrote and directed TV programmes like POP Time for DoorDarshan Delhi. When Gurdas Maan started his career as a performer, there was no market for solo singers, as the market was dominated by the duets. He declined many offers to perform as a duet as he was confident of becoming successful as a solo artist. Even today when organizers arrange for a group of artists to perform, he always perform solo. He has toured the globe and charmed audiences with his versatile performances.

Credit goes to Gurdas Maan for raising Punjabi music from a mere regional level to an international level by giving it a fresh look. The ever-popular "APNA PUNJAB HOVE" track has surpassed all other songs by Gurdas Maan. This track has received awards for The Best Song, Album & Best International Artist of the Asian Pop and Media Awards held in Birmingham in 1998. This song was orgnially written by Makhan Brar, who lives in Toronto. As Gurdas Mann was performing in his concert in Toronto, Makhan Brar handed this song to him. It became a good hit at that concert. Later on Gurdas Mann added a last verse to this song "marjaane Maana kion Punjab Janda khind da" and included it in his forthcoming album.

He is a pioneer in many ways and keeps trying to better things by doing something different, be-it using different kind of music or giving new dimension to an old folk song. He starred in the hit film "Shaheed Udham Singh", where his true personality was highlighted as a Sikh man with no prejudices based on religion, caste or creed. As a singer Gurdas Maan has worked with music directors like Laxmikant Pyarelal, Bappi Lahiri, Anu Malik, Nadeem Sharvan, Amar Haidipur, Charanjeet Ahuja, Jaswant Bhanyra to mention but a few.

He has also recently starred alongside Juhi Chawla in the epic "Des Hoyaa Pardes". An emotive film illustrating the tragedies faced by the people of 1980’s Punjab. His role is that of the son of a well-respected Jatt (farmer) Gurdev Singh Somal. He falls in love with the SOH’s daughter. Before the wedding, the father is murdered by separatists. This tale soon twists in to the inevitable demise of Gurshaan (Gurdas Maan). This movie was based on actual events.

Aside from singing in Punjabi, he is fluent in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Haryanvi and Rajasthani. As an actor he has performed in Punjabi, Hindi and Tamil movies, most recently "Waris Shah - Ishq Daa Waaris," a depiction of the Punjabi poet Waris Shah’s creation of his epic poem Heer Ranjha, again co-starring Juhi Chawla.Also he did a speacial apperence in Veer-Zaara with Shahrukh Khan and Preity Zinta. More about Gurdas Mann...