On Saturday, Sonali, along with Diljit’s choreographer Balwinder Singh, posted a joint statement on Instagram
Diljit Dosanjh
A day after LA-based entrepreneur Rajat Batta accused Diljit Dosanjh and his team of not paying the background dancers for his Dil-Lumanti Tour, the Punjabi singer-actor’s manager, Sonali Singh, responded.
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Did Diljit Dosanjh not pay his dancers?
On Saturday, Sonali, along with Diljit’s choreographer Balwinder Singh, posted a joint statement on Instagram. They said that Diljit's official team never contacted Rajat Batta or Manpreet Toor and accused them of spreading false information on social media. However, Sonali did not address the actual issue of whether the dancers are being paid.
Sonali wrote, “Just to clarify Rajat Batta, Manpreet Toor and other choreographers who are making statements for Diluminati tour were never a part of the tour. Our official team never contacted Rajat Batta or Manpreet Toor who are presenting false narrative on social media. Rajat and Manpreet were not part of the Diluminati tour in anyway.”
She further added, “The official choreographers for the Diluminati tour are Balwinder Singh, Preet Chahal, Divya and Parth (Vancouver). Anyone not involved in the tour should stop spreading misinformation.”
What was the original issue?
Rajat Rocky Batta, a Los Angeles-based choreographer and owner of RRB Dance Company, claims that the desi dancers on Diljit's tour haven't been paid. Rocky posted on Instagram, claiming that the GOAT singer hadn’t paid the dancers during his tour. He expressed pride in seeing a Desi artist breaking barriers and selling out tours in North America but also shared his disappointment about how Desi dancers are undervalued in the industry. He stated that all the Desi dancers in Diljit’s Dil-Luminati Tour were expected to perform for free and were not paid.
The post read, "While we as a Desi Dance Community are really proud of a Desi Artist breaking glass ceilings and doing sold-out tours across North America, I still feel deeply disappointed that Desi Dancers are still undervalued as an industry. All of the Desi Dancers in Diljit's Diluminati Tour were not paid and just expected to perform for free".
"Desi Dance as an industry has become a lifeblood for artists and does a significant part in the entire ecosystem of the industry, while its choreography, stage performances, music videos, reels, to even promoting songs... It's an essential part of production and it's really disappointing to see an artist of this caliber cut corners by stepping on throats of Desi Dancer industry and continuing to attribute to that culture".
He concluded, "Diljit, we are very happy for your success, but your dancers should have been paid and been a part of the production budget".
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