Netflix’s 'Yo Yo Honey Singh: Famous' Movie Review: From glitter to dark hole and a comeback; nothing is permanent

Language: Hindi, Punjabi and English

Director: Mozez Singh

Cast: Yo Yo Honey Singh, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan

Love him or hate him, but we cannot ignore him. Honey Singh’s life has been a rollercoaster ride filled with ups and downs and a huge comeback too. Netflix’s documentary movie shows how his life is more than just of a rap star. Unapologetically Honey Singh is for the masses and not the classes. Netflix documentary, Yo Yo Honey Singh: Famous explains his abrupt exit from limelight. The faster the rise, more precarious was the fall.

Yo Yo Honey Singh is not  just a rapper, he is indeed a movement and a cult to a certain section of people. He disappeared from the public eye at the peak of his career and his fans didn’t know where he was. They kept waiting for him to come back. But what happened to Honey Singh during the darkest phase of his life is what the Netflix documentary film explores. The makers have done justice in covering the rough and also the glorious phase of his life.

Then came a phase in his life when people started hating him. In one of the interviews in Netflix’s ‘Yo Yo Honey Singh: Famous ’, he says how people started the ‘cancellation’ culture with him by completely banning him. And that happened right after the Nirbhaya rape case. He was told that he is glorifying rape through his songs and that it had a misogynistic tone which was definitely not liked by a certain section of people. One of the music journalists in Netflix’s  Yo Yo Honey Singh: Famous mentions as to why the fall of Honey Singh happened? When crores of people want to listen to your songs laced with misogyny and cuss words, it gives validation. Then you blame it on the audience saying that this is what they want? You then need to ask yourself, are you a vendor or a supplier or an artist.

I am not a fan of Honey Singh or his songs and definitely not his lyrics, but he does have an audience and a big fan-following from all strata of the society. People recognise him even in the smallest of villages and in the dingiest of roads. Honey Singh is phenomenal when it comes to impressing the masses. In the film he also mentioned how very influential people in the entertainment industry introduced him to drugs.

Yo Yo Honey Singh gave the people what Amar Singh Chamkila had once given the masses. The unique spunk in his craft cannot be denied. But the best part of Yo Yo Honey Singh: Famous is the human part of his life. We get to know about the people who supported him during the lowest phase of his life. There are many good weather friends and there are friends and family members who are there for you during your darkest phase.

After standing tall on the music charts and being on a massive career high, Yo Yo Honey Singh left everyone in shock after he decided to quit the industry post suffering from alcoholism and depression. After remaining on a break, he did bounce back and proved all of his detractors wrong. The most catchy conversation that the documentary has is when he says,  “Life is false, it is a lie. Death is truth, it is inevitable and permanent.”

For the first time, he has opened up about his personal life in a rare, honest and revelatory way, much to the excitement of the industry and his fans. Leaving his lyrics and craft aside, what was the most touching part of Netflix’s documentary film was Honey Singh’s struggle with bipolar disease. In Yo Yo Honey Singh: Famous he says, “I saw hell. I wanted to die every single day. I didn’t know what was happening to me. If you have a kidney disorder or a liver disorder, there is a cure, but…”

We get to know how difficult his life has been through this film. Mental health disease is the most complicated of all diseases, mostly because you don’t know what is happening to you. Once, Honey Singh was out of this phase with the help of his parents, sister and a friend, he didn’t want to risk his health at any cost because he didn’t want to go back to that dark hole. His life has been from glitter to darkness.  Yo Yo Honey Singh: Famous ends with a positive note where he says, “I want to keep trying and keep going. I want to blow the f***ing world… Part 2 will happen.”

Rating: 3 and half out of 5

WATCH the trailer of Netflix’s ‘Yo Yo Honey Singh: Famous’ here: