Web Series: AP Dhillon: First of a kind
Cast: AP Dhillon, Kevin Buttar, Gurinder Gill, Herman Atwal, and Shinda Kahlon
Directed by: Jay Ahmed
Episodes: 4
OTT: Amazon Prime Video
Rating: 3.5 moons
AP Dhillon: First of a kind, is a docu-series consisting of 4 episodes. It takes the audience to the beginning of Amritpal's music career, covering his background and earlier life, providing insights from how a boy from Punjab, with the support of his single father and family, reaches to Vancouver, Canada and starts his music journey from the scratch overcoming all the obstacles on his way throughout. It also stars other members of the team, Kevin Buttar, Gurinder Gill, Herman Atlwal, and Shinda Kahlon without whom the journey of the superstar wouldn't have been possible. Directed by Jay Ahmed, the documentary is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
The documentary series beautifully sums up the journey of the superstar and shows the transition of Amritpal Singh Dhillon to AP. It begins from his small village Gurdaspur and taking through the journey of ups and downs and full of challenges of finally becoming a global sensation, with some unseen personal footage, narration, and interviews.
The 4 episode long series describes the story of a self-made superstar and it gets interesting with every turn, narrating about notable glimpses both, on and off stage.
Stating that although Canada has changed and shaped AP, he is still the same person. He began his journey from 2015 when he moved to Canada, but interestingly the singer reveals that he had no plans to move out of the country and was in love with Punjab. In fact, it was his father who sent him abroad. From being completely alone in the new country to meeting new people, making friends, and beginning to work on songs together. AP talks about how it took a year for the singer and his friends to learn to create music and use YouTube, and a duration of two years to finally begin with it.
Later in the series, AP describes how no label found his music to be worthy enough and he and his band had to do everything on their own. It’s a journey from the garage studio to the international stadium.
The series is packed with interviews that delve deep into the story covering different perspectives of multiple individuals. From creating the first track ‘Fake’ and getting ‘Excuses’ to cross the borders, and recording 'Brown Munde' track to doing the first tour, facing threats, and even to a point where the singer didn’t want to listen to music - the documentary encompasses all. What people get to see is just a part of the huge process and years of hard work, toiling, and perseverance that goes into the process. Throughout the series AP's hit songs can be heard playing in the background, starting from 'Fake' track to 'Brown Munde' and 'Hills' but it never overpowers the narrative.
Without giving spoilers, AP has also shed light on the fact what impact global sensation, iconic Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala's murder had on him!
Overall AP Dhillon: First of a Kind is engaging and insightful to the reality behind all the glamour that people see, it throws the light on how much dedication and hard work is required to achieve success after certain failures. It encourages one to dream big and work hard and if one really wishes for something, nothing can come in the way of achieving it.
A must watch!