KNOWN for belting out hits such as Bulla Ki Jaana, Tere Bin, Challa and Heer, singersongwriter Rabbi Shergill, who a decade ago had said that art was slowly losing space to entertainment, feels little has changed as he said that there is “a little less space for art.” Talking to IANS about how the landscape of art and entertainment has evolved over the past decade, Shergill reflected on his earlier observation that “art is slowly dying and entertainment is taking its place,” and shared whether he still feels the same way today or believes there has been a change. “I think this has become a little subjective. My opinion is that, by and large, there is a little less space for art,” said Rabbi, who has been called "Punjabi music's true urban balladeer" He added: “And I feel that, you can imagine, have you heard any political song in the last 10 years? Have you seen any political film in the last 10 years? So these are some of the questions I think the viewers, the beginners, can answer themselves.” Sheirgill, whose music has been described as rock, Punjabi, with a bani style melody, and sufiana, and semi-Sufi semi-folksy kind of music with a lot of Western arrangements, concluded: “I feel that art has disappeared a little.”

 

His chartbuster hit Bullah Ki Jaana was based on the Kafi poem written by the Punjabi Sufi saint Bulleh Shah. He lent his voice toYash Chopra's 2012 romantic film Jab Tak Hai Jaan starring Shah Rukh Khan as she crooned the leading number Challa composed by A R Rahman and the lyrics penned by Gulzar. Talking about Jab Tak Hai Jaan, the romantic drama film stars SRK as Samar Anand, a bomb disposal expert for the Indian Army, formerly as a struggling immigrant in London and whirlwind romance with Meera Thappar, based on a diary falls into the hands of Akira Rai, a Discovery Channel documentary filmmaker. Meanwhile, Rabbi Shergill after a long gap, had returned to film music with Talash, a song featured in Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer Main Actor Nahin Hoon. Directed by Aditya Kripalani, the film had released on May 8. Rabbi had said it was amazing to see how the song acquired “new dimensions” as part of the film. Talking about his collaboration with Rabbi, director Aditya Kripalani had said he loved the singer’s songs so much that a line from Tere Bin was tattooed on his arm. He had called working with Rabbi a milestone in his career and said Talash reflected the film’s themes of loneliness and how relationships could help people change for the better.