Gurnazar Takes Us Behind His Viral Hit ‘Dil Tu Jaan Tu’

It’s understandable to hear singer-composer and lyricist Gurnazar say that he’s “truly overwhelmed” by the response to his Punjabi love song “Dil Tu Jaan Tu,” made with music producer Chet Singh. Released in June this year via the label Jhankar Music, the song has 31 million streams on YouTube as well as 26.6 million streams on Spotify.

This is Gurnazar’s biggest solo hit yet, where he’s previously been part of projects like the film song “Marjaawaan” from BellBottom (2021) and collaborated with vocal powerhouse Rahat Fateh Ali Khan on “Dost Banke” in April this year. For the endearing and sugary romantic song that’s “Dil Tu Jaan Tu,” Gurnazar says that he, Singh and others in the team knew that they had “something special,” but its widespread recognition and virality is not what he had imagined. “The love and support pouring in from all directions are deeply touching. Seeing the song become a part of people’s lives, whether it’s in reels about love, family, travel, or other beautiful moments, is incredibly rewarding,” he says.

Some of his favorite Reels on Instagram for the song, however, have been ones that features moms and their babies. “One that particularly stood out was a comment from a mother who shared that her seven-month-old baby only sleeps to ‘Dil Tu Jaan Tu.’ Another adorable reel showed a little kid dancing to the song, with the caption, ‘Sar dard aur uski dawaa tu.’”

Emerging from the studio session for the track, the artist took the song for a car test – listening to it first in a car stereo system – and felt the idea he had was “unique and captivating.” A song of longing for someone close, Gurnazar also extends the credit for the success of “Dil Tu Jaan Tu” to the team from Jhankar Music and music company The Orchard India. Saikapian Manmohan Singh was the executive producer on the project, introducing Gurnazar to Chet Singh. “Chet then came up with a beautiful tune that instantly resonated with me, and I began composing on it […] Although his studio isn’t fully soundproof, we decided to embrace that raw quality because the track already sounded so good. While I was writing, Chet was producing the song, and we agreed that this would be the final version. He even suggested that we mix and master the track professionally, but I chose to drop the idea because the track sounded so raw and good. The rendered track had a unique quality that surpassed my previous work, and I’m really proud of the outcome,” Gurnazar says.

“Dil Tu Jaan Tu” climbed to the second spot on Spotify’s India Viral Chart and up to #10 on the Global Viral Chart. In our interview from late April, Gurnazar shared they’ve got “strong pickup in regions like Mumbai, Pune and Delhi” as well as in countries like The U.S., the U.K., Canada, Nepal and Australia.

Gurnazar says that they hope the track “will remain impactful even after the viral moment passes.” It has over 2.5 million Reels created using its audio, all the way through to September. In the months since, Gurnazar teamed up once again with Chet Singh for the Hindi song “Jaam,” released on Sept. 9 with a music video out on Sept. 15. It’s a part of his song series Gurnazar Live “Additionally, I have several other music projects in the works with Jhankar Music and The Orchard India, which will carry us into the new year,” he adds.