Satinder Sartaajਸਤਿੰਦਰ ਸਰਤਾਜ

Early life

Satinder Pal Singh was born on 31 August 1982 in the village of Bajrawar in Hoshiarpur district, Punjab. He attended the government elementary school in his village and began performing in local Bal Sabhas (children's gatherings) while in the third standard. He earned an honours degree in music from Government College, Hoshiarpur, along with a five-year diploma in classical music from Sangeet Visharad, Jalandhar.

Education

Sartaaj is among the most academically accomplished performers in Indian music. He completed an MPhil in Sufi music singing and then a PhD in Sufi singing (Gayan) from Panjab University, Chandigarh, and taught music at the university for six years. He also completed a certificate course and diploma in the Persian language to deepen his understanding of Sufi poetry. While at college he began writing poetry and adopted 'Sartaaj' — meaning 'crown' — as his takhallus (pen name).

Career

He started performing majlis and concerts in 2003, and his early albums included Ibadat (2009). His breakthrough came with the song 'Sai' from the album Sartaaj (2010) — a Sufi ballad that became a phenomenon among the Punjabi diaspora. In 2011 he won Best International Act at the Brit Asia TV Music Awards, and in 2014 he performed to a packed Royal Albert Hall in London.

He invented his own musical instrument, the Saaz-e-Sartaaj, and built his concerts around poetry recitation as much as song. Later singles and albums through Saga Music and Jugnu kept him at the forefront of Sufi-pop, and he won Best Songwriter at the Brit Asia awards in 2017.

Film career

In 2017 Sartaaj made his acting debut portraying Maharaja Duleep Singh in The Black Prince, the Hollywood biopic of the last Sikh emperor of Punjab. He has since appeared in Punjabi films including Ikko Mikke (2020) and Kali Jotta (2023), and the 2024 film Shayar.

Personal life

Sartaaj married his longtime girlfriend Gauri, whom he met while both were pursuing PhDs at Panjab University, in December 2010. He is known for a scholarly, soft-spoken public persona and for performing in traditional Punjabi attire.

Legacy

Satinder Sartaaj is regarded as a guardian of the Sufi poetic tradition and the Gurmukhi language in popular music. Where most pop stars chase trends, he built a career on poetry — proving that shayari could fill the Royal Albert Hall.