21/09/2025
“He had no Blueprint. He WAS the Blueprint.” - BHANGRA TAPE DECK
The title GOAT is often thrown about to artists, musicians and producers, day in, day out, with many people not fully understanding the gravity of such an accolade.
Charanjit Ahuja was one such Music Director and Musician that wholeheartedly embodied that title without ever affirming to be it. With a back catalogue that any Music Director would dream of, working with artists such as Kuldip Manak, Surinder Shinda and Amar Singh Chamkila, to name a few, to create undeniably evergreen albums, the Panjabi Music Industry owes an immense amount of gratitude to what Ahuja Ji did for the Panjabi culture. Over multiple decades, brick by brick, he laid the foundations for what Panjabi Music now stands on.
His compositions, his songs have provided infinite inspiration to artists that have followed in his footsteps. Be it sampled or similar compositions, Charanjit Ahuja’s influence echoes throughout the Panjab scene, but equally the UK scene. Producers such as , and have been heavily influenced by the Pioneer’s sound. There are, without doubt, countless other artists that equally been influenced by Ahuja Ji’s work.
And the mad thing about his back catalogue? He created it from scratch. There was no Blueprint for him to draw from. He WAS the Blueprint!
Words alone will never be able to accurately articulate the GENIUS of this man, and of course the immeasurable amount of service he gave to the game. But one thing is for sure - there would be no Panjabi music scene today if it wasn’t for him!
Forever in our hearts 🕊️
