A London-based dancer has alleged unprofessional behavior from the management team of Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosanjh during his "Dil-Luminati Tour" in Europe. The dancer, Shilpa Sajan, posted on Instagram, accusing the team of disrespectful and disorganised conduct, leading her to withdraw from the tour.
However, a source close to Dosanjh’s tour team, in a conversation with PTI, dismissed the allegations, calling them "baseless and untrue."
What the dancer said about Diljit's tour management
Sajan, who shared her experience through her Instagram account, Lateafternoonthoughts, expressed her initial excitement at being selected for the tour, describing it as a potential highlight of her professional career. "Recently, I was selected to be a backup dancer for Diljit Dosanjh's DIL-LUMINATI Europe Tour. As a dancer who's been doing this professionally for years, this could have been one of the highlights of my dance career. But I pulled out," she wrote.
The British-Indian dancer also referred to a previous controversy surrounding Dosanjh's U.S. tour, where dancers had accused the management of non-payment. While those claims were denied by the singer's team at the time, Sajan said this incident raised red flags for her.
What they were paid
She shared that dancers were offered a low fee of 80 GBP (approximately Rs 8,800) for the European leg of the tour and were expected to cover their own travel and accommodation costs, even for international travel. Despite initially accepting the offer as a fan of the star, Sajan said the experience quickly soured.
They promised us this would be an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience and as a fan; Ill be honest, I said yes at first. But unfortunately for that price; you get what you pay for. I have never worked with such an unprofessional and disrespectful management team in. my. life (sic),” she wrote, citing poor communication, last-minute decisions, and dancers being cut without explanation.
The dancer on chaotic nature of rehearsals
Sajan also highlighted the chaotic nature of rehearsals, saying, “Everything was a mess, there was no respect or communication and we were left stressed for days on end. Messages would be ignored, dancers were getting cut with no explanations provided. There was no emphasis on rehearsals, and when you leave everything to the last minute, this does reflect on stage.”
Ultimately, she chose to withdraw, stating that she couldn't continue supporting such a poor standard within the industry. "Even though I was willing to give this a chance, I just couldn't continue encouraging this poor standard in the dance industry," Sajan concluded.
Diljit's team denies all the claims
In response to her claims, a source from the tour team denied the accusations, and told PTI, "It's baseless and untrue. With a superstar like Diljit, it's easy for anyone and everyone to comment and make news out of it."
Following the conclusion of the European tour, Diljit Dosanjh is set to begin his "Dil-Luminati India Tour 2024," which will kick off in New Delhi on October 26.