Vikas Bahl’s Upcoming Film Explores the Explosive Rise of 90’s Punjabi Music: From UK Streets to a Global Revolution

This coming-of-age story captures a pivotal era, tracing how young immigrants discovered their identity, defiance, and resonance through the power of sound.

Vikas Bahl is all set with his next directorial, starring Jimmy Shergill, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Mona Singh and Alizeh Agnihotri in lead roles.

Set in Britain in the early 1990s, the film unfolds against the rise of the UK Punjabi music movement, a turbulent and exhilarating time when a generation growing up between cultures began turning up the volume from garages, backrooms, pirate radio stations and underground gigs.

It was a time when Punjabi dhol collided with basslines and when young brown artists with their unique sound fought their way to music charts, making their whole community visible. Set against this cultural explosion, the film is a coming-of-age story about music, identity, family, friendship and belonging.

The film brings together an ensemble of Indian and international actors, musicians and performers to recreate a moment when an entire generation began to discover that perhaps belonging wasn’t something they needed to ask permission for.

By Keerti Kadam