Jay Ahmed on AP Dhillon: For few months, he stopped making music

Despite having heard Brown Munde countless times I never associated it with AP Dhillon until I sat down to watch the latest documentary on him Amazon Prime Videorsquos fourpart offering AP Dhillon The First of a Kind delves into the Punjabi singerrsquos passion for music brotherhood and his love for the south Asian community Director Jay Ahmed walks us through the making of the docu as he met the artiste who is ldquoall heart and a true brotherrdquoEdited excerpts from the interviewHow did AP Dhillon aka Amritpal Singh Dhillon and your paths crossPassion Pictures and Amazon Prime Video were looking for a director who was experienced in unscripted content and had dealt with high profile talent When they contacted me I didnrsquot know a lot about him But I didnrsquot want to know I wanted to uncover him myself When I met him it was like hanging out with a friend Irsquove known for years There was an instant connection AP wanted somebody who would respect his boundaries because he is a private guy He felt Irsquod never cross that lineShinda Kahlon and AP Dhillon working on a new songWhat was the line that you were never supposed to crossCertain things like protecting the privacy of family members and his inner circle He wanted the documentary to focus on him as an artiste his support network and certain aspects of his private life In the documentary he spoke about his reaction to Sidhu Moose Walarsquos assassination He had immense respect for Sidhu He told me the details of their last conversation as they had spoken just two days before the tragic loss There is a strong connection in the Punjabi community When we went on a hike I wasnrsquot planning on filming it initially I just wanted him to clear his head He then started talking about Sidhu and how the loss affected him For a few months he stopped making music He fell out of love with music because Sidhursquos loss affected himDid he share some of the death threats he receivedYes he showed me some of the messages He was getting random phone calls from unknown numbers Despite the security and his small circle information of his location and his hotel room was getting outJay AhmedHe received backlash for making his stage performance on the song Hills too sexual What was his reaction to the trollsIt was exactly how we showed it in the documentary He was sitting for a haircut and was in a bizarre mood because of the social media comments about the previous concert I told him that he has to explain to us whatrsquos going on in his head He started opening up asking lsquoWhy is this happening when all we are trying to do is push the envelopersquo Then Kevin Buttar and Gminxr told him that he was stronger than this and they wonrsquot back down because of some social media comments He just needed to know that his network supported him That changed the vibe backstage and it showed in the performanceIn a collective ego clashes are common Did you experience that with AP Gurinder Gill and Shinda KahlonIn my first week with them I got the feeling that AP is the genius because he does everythingmdashwriting singing rapping producing composing and engineering sound and light He is a creative genius They all come with their specialties but when they sit with him they realise that he sees things differently and makes it better Thatrsquos why theyrsquove always championed him as the face of the band It was an understanding they all had right at the start Itrsquos hard to believe for a bunch of young Punjabi boys we didnrsquot film even one argument Not much about his family is exploredI stayed with them when we went to Punjab for his Lollapalooza concert His family was so caring and humble who opened their doors for me His dad used to write a lot of poetry and loves music There were evenings where we would sit around the bonfire and they would play the guitar His dad is his biggest inspiration If it wasnrsquot for his father and grandmotherrsquos sacrifices he wouldnrsquot be where he is todayWhat was your takeaway from the entire experienceIn the past I focused on western documentaries and dealt with people from the US and the Middle East I thought talent was always on that side of the world But when I met these people from south Asia who sat in their bedrooms and made incredible music it opened my eyes to how much talent there was in the south Asian community When you watch the documentary it becomes apparent that you have to put in the work and have to surround yourself with good people He spent his first year only listening watching and learning stuff on YouTube They planned their first nationwide tour within a span of six weeks That speaks volumes of his talent