Punjabi folk music artist Bhupinder Babbal shot to mainstream attention with the song “Arjan Vailly” from the 2023 hit Hindi film ANIMAL, the song winning him a Filmfare Award for best male playback singer. It’s somewhat appropriate that the Kurali-born, Chandigarh-based vocalist finally found nationwide fame with the martial anthem, for he was reportedly planning to join the army post-university before the appreciative response from the crowd at a youth cultural festival encouraged him to pursue a music career. Babbal went on to dazzle Punjabi audiences in India and abroad with his booming vocals in a career spanning five decades before he was enlisted for ANIMAL—which wasn’t the first time he was roped in by contemporary musicians. Previous collaborators include Bally Sagoo, who got him to take the mic for the single “Mundeyo Aagee Oye” in 1998, and Harman Gill and KRU172 who featured him on their 2022 collaboration “Saint Soldier”.