Mozez Singh: ‘Honey Singh trusted that I wouldn’t sensationalise his battle’

A still from Yo Yo Honey Singh: Famous

Mozez Singh took on the job of directing Yo Yo Honey Singh: Famous with a simple idea - he wanted people to get inspired by the popular Punjabi musician's life. Did that thought obstruct him from being objective about Honey, who has led a controversial public life and made music laced with sexist stereotypes? "I had to maintain a balance between letting my feelings come in for Honey and his family, and do my job as a filmmaker. If I had let this balance go even for a second, my film would've become lop-sided," starts Mozez, whose work on Zubaan (2015) landed him the Netflix documentary.

But being objective is easier said than done. Mozez remembers a moment during the filming when he found it particularly challenging to maintain objectivity. "When I was talking to his mother about Honey's mental health crisis, she would sound so emotional every time she answered. So, I had to have an inner dialogue with myself, ‘Am I manipulating the situation or am I asking her because I want to actually know?' There were times when I wouldn't go beyond a point because I didn't want to manipulate them," he states.

Mozez Singh

Yo Yo Honey Singh: Famous offers an unvarnished, warts-and-all look at the rapper's life, including his battle with bipolar disorder. Mention that the docu sensitively reflects Honey's mental health condition, and the filmmaker pegs it to one factor - trust. "He arrived at the point where he was willing to talk about it on camera, show his medicine pouch and pop the medicine on film. He trusted me by then; he trusted that I'd show his story with integrity and that I wouldn't sensationalise his battle. He understood that I was hunting for the truth; I wasn't there to make a puff piece on him. Once he understood that I'd never present [his mental health condition] in a way that would humiliate or embarrass him, he gave me everything."

Yo Yo Honey Singh

While the film delves deep into Honey's mental health struggles, it skims through his alleged drug addiction. Mozez says he was conscious about not reducing the musician's battle with bipolar disorder to his drug use. "Honey was never a drug addict. It is a misconception. He dabbled in smoking pot, which he spoke about in the film. The mental health [condition] came at the same time. So, the stories became crazy where people said [it was] because he is on drugs. But it wasn't drug [related], it was a mental health thing. So, I decided to focus more on his mental health. That was the truth. I thought if I emphasised his drug habit, it would seem like all of it happened to him because of the drugs. But it didn't."

One of the documentary's highlights is Salman Khan speaking about his fondness for the rapper, who wrote and sang a track for Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan (2023). What started as a shoot with Khan ended up as a long chat about fame, recalls the director. "He had given us one hour of his time, but he was there for three hours. He answered everything that I asked. At some point, it stopped being a shoot and became a chat. It was interesting to talk to him about the price of fame because he has had his own journey with it. He was warm, kind and forthcoming. [People like him], who have such crazy fame, see it for what it is, but they are also deeply grounded in the reality of their own lives," says Mozez.