When Mika Singh left brother Daler Mehndi’s crew for solo career, he cried for four days: Dukh tha alag ho raha hai’

Mika Singh has carved a name for himself in the music industry over the two decades that he has been active. The singer has given several chartbusters over the years, both in films and as albums and singles. His own identity has become so strong that people often forget that Mika started his career under the tutelage of older brother Daler Mehndi, a popular singer himself. As Mika turns 45 on Friday, we take a look at when Daler spoke about how Mika branching out for his solo career left him heartbroken. Also read: Mika Singh recalls chat with Sidhu Moose Wala from last week: ‘Said he could roam in Mumbai without security’

In 2009, Mika and Daler Mehndi appeared together as guests and contestants on Salman Khan’s game show Dus Ka Dum. On the show, Salman asked Daler how he felt seeing his younger brother scale such heights in his career. To this, Daler responded in Hindi, “I feel very good because Mika was very young, some 7 or 8 years old when he used to take a guitar and play many songs on it. I used to look at him and feel so happy and I would feel in my heart that he would be someone very big someday. He’ll make a name for himself one day.” A visibly gushing Mika folded his hands in gratitude towards his brother.

Mika started his career in the early 1990s as part of Daler’s crew. By then, Daler had already established himself as a successful Punjabi pop artiste and by the mid-90s, he was widely regarded as among the most popular pop stars of the country. It was at this time that Mika told him he wanted to leave his crew and carve out a solo career for himself. Salman asked Daler if he was sad when Mika branched out. Talking about this on Dus Ka Dum, Daler had said, “His first album was Saawan Mein Lag Gayi Aag. When he planned it, I kept crying for four days. I cried a lot, all alone, sometimes secretly. Mujhe dukh tha ye alag ho raha hai (I was sad that he is separating) but then he told it’s my ambition. So, I helped him set up his first studio. But after that it was his hard work.”

Mika’s first solo song Sawan Mein Lag Gayi Aag was a huge hit and paved the way for him to release his first major album Gabru in 2001. The success of Gabru led to several film songs, starting with Dil Mein Baji Guitarin the 2006 film Apna Sapna Money Money. Over the years, he has given several hits like Ganpat, Mauja Hi Mauja, Singh is King, Ibn-E-Batuta, Pyaar Ki Pungi, and Heer among others.

The singer will soon be seen on reality show Swayamvar: Mika Di Vohti, where he will be seen selecting his life partner from among several prospective bachelorettes. Produced by SOL Productions, the show will premiere on June 19 on Star Bharat, and will air from Monday to Friday at 8 pm.