India, May 2 -- Whether Kangana Ranaut remembers him all the time is moot; Diljit Dosanjh is slowly inching towards the portal of the unforgettable in the global culture scene. From chartbuster albums to houseful concerts to acting accolades to the Met Gala red carpet to The Tonight Show hosted by Jimmy Fallon, Dosanjh is turning into a phenomenon, without losing his corporeality. A stardom so deeply anchored in the terra firma that it almost appears performative. Except it isn't.

Punjabi singers' global appeal is nothing new, thanks to the mammoth South Asian diaspora that hankers after the petrichor-scented rotti (food), dunaali (gun), mutiyaar (woman) and their paraanda (ornament), alongside the Lamborghini dreams in their Prada-shade...