Mukesh Jaji calls himself a “writer, storyteller, weaver of dreams” on social media. He is sitting on a cot against a wall in his farmhouse-cum-music studio on the outskirts of Sonipat, about 50 km north of India’s capital Delhi. The 32-year-old bespectacled lyricist, who writes Haryanvi songs, has green fields of prosperity all around him.
Mukesh Jaji sitting with his nephew and singer Aman Jaji in Jaji village of Sonipat district of Haryana. , Photo Courtesy: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
After being confined to a wheelchair for a decade following a road accident, he talks about the rapid growth of Haryana’s music industry in the last decade. “Earlier in Haryana mein shaadiyon mein ten songs punjabi to ek haryanvi bajta tha. Ab ulta ho gaya hai! Ab dus haryanvi to ek punjabi bajta hai, (Earlier in Haryana weddings there used to be 10 Punjabi songs played for every one Haryanvi song. Now it’s the other way around! Now there are 10 Haryanvi songs played for every one Punjabi song),” he says.
Five years ago, in the midst of the pandemic, two Haryanvi chartbusters ’52 Gaj Ka Daaman’ (52-foot skirt) and ‘Chatak Matak’ (A Smart Woman) were released. To date, both sung by Renuka Panwar have received over 1 billion views on YouTube. Mukesh, who wrote ’52 Gaj…’, says that the regional music scenario of the state is changing.
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The music video featured Pranjal Dahiya, a Haryanvi actor and social media influencer, while ‘Chatak…’ featured Sapna Choudhary, an actor and artist. Both of them have over 5 million followers on Instagram, while Mukesh has written around 120 songs, 40 of which have crossed the 1 million streams mark.
Both music videos feature women wearing traditional calf-length skirts and shirts, with their heads covered with dupattas. Now, major music players like Saregama India Limited, T-Series and Sony Music are producing and distributing Haryanvi tracks on streaming platforms like JioSaavn, Spotify, Gaana and Apple Music.
pop music and money
Due to this boom, the earnings of local musicians have increased 10 to 100 times compared to 5-10 years ago. Mukesh himself charges up to ₹10 lakh for writing a song. Using social media for collaboration He says, “Earlier, artists from Punjab used to look down on artists from Haryana. Now, they are eager to collaborate.”
Kuldeep Rathi, a music video director. , Photo Courtesy: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
Kuldeep Rathi, who has directed songs featuring strong men like the 2019 hit ‘RX 100’, revealed that the budget for shooting the song has increased from ₹20,000 to ₹20 lakh.
“We used to shoot at one location with basic cameras. The actors would bring their own costumes. Now, we are going big: multiple locations, 2-3 day shoots, Bollywood-level cameras with rentals going up to Rs 35 thousand per day, costume designers and choreographers. It’s a complete production,” he explains. “The cash flow is attracting top talent. Qualified professionals are joining Haryanvi music; the industry is flourishing,” says Rathi.
Musicians also wear Haryana on their sleeves. For example, Shiva Choudhary sings ‘Haryana Ke Hain’, glorifying its agrarian, uncultured culture, saying: “We belong to Haryana and are Jats. We believe only in the rule of Khaps (community leaders), and fear no one. We are in this world just to have fun. We are not afraid of police stations and checkpoints. We drink alcohol openly and do not measure pegs,” she sings. Are. His songs feature prominently on VYRL Haryanvi, which features playlists of artists singing in this language.
With this generational change, guns, gangs and hooliganism are part of the songs. Ten songs by Masoom Sharma, one of the most popular Haryanvi singers, including ‘Chambal Ke Daku’, ‘Tuition Badmashi Ka’ and ‘Jailor’ have collectively garnered over 100 million views. Dhanda Neyoliwala’s ‘Illegal’ garners over 2.2 million views within days of its release in 2024. Despite the success of the genre, the glorification of violence in the music has invited criticism.
The storyline and lyrics of some tracks present the police and judiciary in a bad light, while portraying the larger-than-life main characters as more powerful than the law enforcement agencies. For example, ‘Tuition Badmashi Ka’ shows a female police officer being influenced by the hero, a wrestler turned criminal. Every time he and his army try to capture the main man, he dodges them and runs away.
Another controversial song released in 2022, the video of ‘Court Mein Goli’ shows a dramatic scene where the hero shoots a witness inside the court room in the presence of the police and the judge, who hides behind the bench. In 2023, a PIL was filed in the Gujarat High Court claiming that the song “targets the integrity of the justice system” and called for its removal from YouTube.
Over the past few years, there have been several incidents of firing inside court complexes, including in Bhiwani, Ambala, Hisar and Gurugram. This has raised concerns over the impact of songs that glorify violence and gun culture.
In 2019, the Punjab and Haryana Court order in response to five writ petitions filed had said: “The Court may also take judicial notice of the fact that glorification of alcohol, drugs and violence in songs has increased in recent times in Punjab, Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh. These songs influence children of impressionable age.”
In a 30-page order, the court directed the Director Generals of Police of both the states and Union Territories to “ensure that no songs glorifying liquor, wine, drugs and violence are played… even in live shows”.
murder at a wedding
Panditrao Dharnevar, 51, an associate professor of sociology at a government college in Chandigarh, moved court against songs promoting violence after a 23-year-old female dancer was killed at a wedding in Bathinda, Punjab, in December 2016.
Dharennavar, originally from Karnataka, was posted in Chandigarh after appointment through the UPSC exam more than two decades ago. He gradually got attracted towards the local language, literature and culture.
“I was deeply saddened by this incident. Being a teacher, I thought this could not be true Punjabi culture: A woman was dancing at a wedding at night and was shot by a guest in excitement while Diljit Dosanjh’s song ‘Sharab Waragi’ was being played,” says Dharnevar.
They prepared the petition on two grounds: noise pollution and the subject matter of the songs. In this case, all three governments – Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh were made parties. “More than 15 hearings took place over three years before the verdict was delivered in 2019,” says Dharnevar. “Questions were also raised about obscene songs being played on online platforms. Although the court has not specifically mentioned an online or offline ban in its judgement, the spirit of the order is that such songs should not be played anywhere, whether in live shows, on the internet or on any other platform.”
songs removed
Inspector General of Police, Special Task Force, Satish Balan says that in the last two years, Haryana Police has asked YouTube and other social media platforms to remove around 60 songs that allegedly promote violence and gun culture. This was part of an effort to destigmatize crime in Haryana.
Although it is difficult to measure the impact of such songs, Balan says that some may be influenced by content that promotes aggressive masculinity.
In 2025, two music festivals, including one in Gurugram, were stopped midway for playing these songs. However, this action was strongly opposed by the music industry and some artists accused the police of targeting certain singers. Masoom Sharma appeared on various forums saying that there were hundreds of songs promoting violence, but the police had asked him to remove the six songs sung by him. He hinted towards some conspiracy.
Social media content creator Rakhi Lochab, who has over 6 lakh followers on her Instagram account, also came out in support of the singer and posted a video demanding that the police act impartially.
In the monsoon session of the Haryana Assembly in 2025, Congress’ Shahdara MLA Ramkaran Kala sought a statement from Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on the “atrocities” of removing songs against three singers: Masoom Sharma, Narendra Bhagana and Ankit Baliyan. Social Justice Minister Krishna Kumar said these singers have “done a lot for the pride of Haryana” and asked the CM to take a sympathetic approach.
However, many ‘removed’ songs are still available online. Dharnevar says the police remove songs from the original accounts of singers and production houses, but appear helpless in removing them from many other accounts. “For songs reposted from many other accounts, it is the social responsibility of people to lodge a formal complaint with the police or relevant authorities for action,” he says.
He explains how FM radio channels in and around Chandigarh continue to play the banned songs despite court orders, following which he wrote a letter to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. After this the Central Government issued an advisory in 2022.
Dharnevar says that Haryanvi, Punjabi and Bhojpuri songs contain both violent and obscene content. Dharnevar says, “After some MPs and representatives of organizations received these references, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting wrote to self-regulatory bodies of online curated content publishers and OTT platforms to comply with Indian laws and the code of conduct under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.”
The special task force has held meetings with the music industry to highlight the risks of promoting violence, not only for society but also for the artists themselves.
Balan says that some artists who gain fame through such content become victims, receiving requests – or threats – from gangsters to create songs in their praise or sell them material at low prices, which is then posted for profit. Anonymous Channels owned by gangsters.
Mukesh says, “After a few months of the meeting with the police, the lyricists avoided such content but the trend has resurfaced. However, now the story has been changed to show that truth and goodness prevail in the end.” He has written many reflective songs, including ‘Maa Babu’, as well as compositions on subjects such as cows, the army and inter-caste marriage. However, these have failed to grab the attention of the audience. He says, “I write two or three such songs annually. My peers do the same, but it is largely for personal fulfillment. These songs do not generate any income. These are high-energy tracks with provocative lyrics and themes of sensuality and aggression, which appeal to the youth.”
“The plate you want will have to be served, otherwise you will have to serve it in some restaurant.” Nahi aayega (We have to serve the thali of the customer’s choice, otherwise no one will come to the restaurant),” says Mukesh.
ashok.kumar@thehindu.co.in
Edited by Sunalini Mathew
