AP Dhillon: First Of A Kind has finally released on Amazon Prime Video, after all the week-long anticipation built by our main man dishing out free concerts and becoming the guest-of-hour in a room full of the who’s who of Bollywood.
It was back in 2020, when ‘Brown Munde’ was released and became a mainstay in our playlists. Since then, AP Dhillon has released a string of albums and chart-topping hits and to say that no party is complete till an AP track is played, wouldn’t be an exaggeration. So, yes, hopes were set high for this docuseries.
But before we get into it, let’s establish two things.
Confession #1: I’m a sucker for documentaries based on celebrities that come out claiming that we’re going to get a truly honest (it’s always implied) look at the real person behind the persona. So, when I learned that there’s going to be a documentary based on the life of Canadian-Indian singer AP Dhillon that claims that we might know the musician but not the man, I was hooked. Will we know what makes him tick? Will we find out if he has a finsta account used for stalking exes, like us mere mortals? Is he going to tell us that he too pretends to like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge because of peer pressure but truly believes that Dil To Pagal Hai is far superior?
Confession #2: While I do regularly groove to ‘Summer High’ and ‘Brown Munde’, I’m not a stan. I mean, I know that he may be dating Banita Sandhu and that he parties with Ranveer Singh, but I’m not a fan fan, you know what I mean?
Having seen the full docuseries, here are some thoughts that I want to share, if you too are planning on watching AP Dhillon: First Of A Kind this weekend.
6 Things I Learned After Watching AP Dhillon: First Of A Kind
AP Dhillon is a man of mystery
It was not just me who didn’t know much about the singer. Before this documentary, people didn’t know much about him either because he likes to wear a “cloak of mystery”. TBH, the answer to ‘Who really is AP Dhillon?’ is still not clear. Can we expect a part two?
AP Dhillon came to Canada with two suitcases and a dream
The guy had to work at a Best Buy to make ends meet before building a career as one of the most popular artists in the world right now. But as inspirational as the story sounds now, there were moments when he allowed the despair and loneliness of being so far away from home take over. He recalls calling up his father and saying, “Yo, I want to get the f**k out of here”, a line that I’m sure he is paraphrasing from his memory as there was no mention of a whooping by his dad for the language.
AP Dhillon met his Run Up Records collaborators Gminorx and Gurinder Gill at school
The singer’s core group still comprises people who knew him when he was a nobody. AP credits his team and friends for being a major part of his success and still relies on their inputs for his work. One of his appeals is how grounded he seems despite all the flashy accoutrements and his friends are one of the reasons why that is so.
AP Dhillon justifies the ‘First Of His Kind’ tag
As industry experts, who were called on to give their testimonials for the documentary reveal, AP is the first Indian independent artist who mixes his own beats, even after reaching such a huge platform. The distinct AP Dhillon sound, which is a mix of rustic Punjabi music mixed with western style hip hop and trap beats, is something that AP and his gang created in their small studio in Vancouver. It is also impressive and lowkey inspiring to know that he learnt it all on YouTube.
AP Dhillon is a crier
Some of the most memorable moments from the four-part docu-series were when the singer would allow his emotions to truly come to the surface. He is very particular about not letting AP Dhillon and Amritpal mix, but once or twice the confident and unapproachable persona of the singer drops and the awestruck boy from a small town in Punjab shines through. One such instance happens just before he is about to perform his first show during his North America tour. AP is sitting in the car and he couldn’t stop the tears from flowing as he is about to perform at a venue that he only ever saw from the outside. He furiously rubs at his eyes and tries to stop his tears, but the moment of raw vulnerability becomes an integral part of what makes him the star that he is, at the moment.
AP Dhillon stands firm by what he believes in
A rude shock of reality comes to AP Dhillon well into the docuseries, when he starts getting threats from anonymous people and his privacy is at risk all the time. Things got worse when news of Sidhu Moosewala’s shocking assassination came through. AP and the late Punjabi rapper had collaborated in the past for the breakthrough track ‘Brown Munde’ and were friends. The news came when AP was in the middle of his tour and had an emotional impact on him. It was around the same time when he started getting backlash for including a racy dance number for one of his songs onstage. Patriarchal trolls started sending him threats and boycott proclamations if he didn’t remove the choreography from the concert. However, AP refused to cut out the dancer’s part and chose to stand by the artistic decision despite the hate directed towards him.
AP Dhillon: First Of A Kind is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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