Actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh who is now gearing up for the release of his Punjabi film ‘Jatt & Juliet 3’, is set to feature on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. Recently, the ‘Crew’ star opened up about how he struggles to make Hindi songs, since it is not his first language.

During his conversation with a podcast with Raj Shamani, Diljit revealed that he struggles to make Hindi songs. He mentioned that his song “Naina” in Crew came about only after serious follow-up by producer Rhea Kapoor. He explained that he doesn’t typically sing Hindi songs and that the whole of India isn’t listening to him for that. He always spoke Punjabi, but due to Hindi films, he started talking in Hindi.

The singer admitted that he couldn’t create Hindi songs on his own and that “Naina” in Crew happened because Rhea Kapoor pushed him to do it. He told her he couldn’t make songs for Bollywood and didn’t know how to do it, but she pursued him for a year. At the time, he was working on an album, and she would ask him every 10 days about the song. It was through her persistence that the song was created.

In the same interview, the singer was asked why he chose to so proudly represent Punjab rather than India specifically on stages, Diljit Dosanjh explained that Punjab is a small part of India, and he comes from a very small state where regional music is made. He noted that while regional music wasn’t very grand earlier, it has now become global.

Diljit expressed that the feeling of coming from a small town is different. On an India-wide level, there are very big artists, and he admitted that he cannot sing as well as Sonu Nigam. He mentioned that regional music reaching Coachella from India gives him the vibe that he has come from a small place to a big one today.

Diljit added that when he went to Coachella, a friend told him that it was the first time Punjabi was spoken on the world stage. This thought became ingrained in his mind and came out naturally on stage, without him saying it consciously.