The group, led by US-based extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, issued a statement in October that said bowing to Bachchan had “insulted every victim, every widow, and every orphan of 1984 Sikh Genocide”.
Dosanjh spoke out with a message of hope and unity in Brisbane: “There is only love from my side for everyone, even if someone gets jealous of me or trolls me. I will always spread the message of love. Punjabi aa gaye oye”.
My hope was that only love (and a bit of fun) would be present in Auckland, and that the show delivered on its promise of “epic visuals, cutting-edge staging and production, and a mega setlist”.
Turns out my hope was right. We got all of that and more – a feast for the eyes and for the soul, no matter what language you spoke.
We weren’t greeted with an angry mob at the door, but instead elated people lining up for free turban wrapping, a selection of Indian food for sale and merch that could rival a big-name hip-hop artist.
I took my seat next to a young couple in an audience full of varying ages and ethnicities, from young kids to grandparents. Everyone was smiling, and everyone was ready to spread the love, despite a short delay in waiting for the star.
“Tonight is not just a concert, it’s an energy field,” the screen flashed. “An energy you can’t see, but you can feel, and that’s Aura.”
Dosanjh rose through a trapdoor caked in smoke and for the next nearly three hours, we were treated to exactly that. Aura.
Song after song, his pitch-perfect live band, backup dancers and technicians assaulted the senses in rapid succession while the star bounced up and down the circular catwalk.
But even the fireworks, confetti, smoke machines and impressive light show weren’t enough to draw attention away from the pure charisma of Dosanjh, whose genre-bending discography mixed classic Bollywood with hip-hop, pop and even rock.
At times, I felt like I was on the set of Bollywood film myself, feeling the urge to get up and dance and even give singing a go. Sadly, I didn’t get an in-sync light-up wristband (like the ones Coldplay use), but the effect was phenomenal.
“What was he saying when talking to the audience?” I asked my new friend next to me, to which he replied that, while he also couldn’t fully understand because of a different regional dialect, Dosanjh was basically telling us how he got here and his love for New Zealand.
The moments that hit me hardest were the human ones. Dosanjh brought more than five people onto the stage to dance with them, including young children and a pregnant woman. Every interaction was sincere, graceful and respectful, and the singer gave each one a memorabilia item to take with them.
Nearing the end, and with my eardrums nearly shot (Dosanjh’s microphone was definitely on, and the singer had some pipes on him), he made his way to the front of the stage, bowing down to us. There was no controversy, no heckles, just plenty of smiling faces glad that one of India’s biggest stars had shared his talent with little old New Zealand.
The music even spilled out onto the streets afterwards, with a man with a drum and speaker keeping the fizzing crowd going long into the night.
I may not have understood every word, every lyric or even every deliberate movement Dosanjh made tonight, but I did feel it.
From the passion and incredible genre-bending sounds, and the way he spoke to his fans with warmth and gratitude, the music and feeling had transcended the language.
“Tonight is not just a concert; it’s an energy field. An energy you can’t see, but you can feel, and that’s Aura.”
Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald’s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke’s Bay Today.
