Maan initially worked in the electricity board, a job he was offered by officials he met at a singing event. In 1980, a producer approached him to perform the song "Dil Da Mamla Hai" in
DD National. Maan shot to fame with his hit song "Dil Da Mamla Hai." Soon after that came "Mamla Gadbad Hai" and "Chhalla", the latter being the hit film song from the Punjabi film
Long Da Lishkara (1983), which Maan recorded under the music direction of legendary
Jagjit Singh.
Awards and honours Maan is the only Punjabi singer to win the national award for Best Male Playback Singer at the
54th National Film Awards for building the entire narrative through his singing of Heer in
Waris Shah: Ishq Daa Waaris. The said film also entered the Academy Awards (Oscars) in the General Category. The official entry from the U.S.A. was pioneered by India Waves TV, a San Francisco-based media entity on behalf of Golden Palms Entertainment Inc. On other fronts, Maan has starred in blockbuster Bollywood films and has received numerous awards, including the Jury's Award, presented to him by the president of India in 2005. He also sang the popular track, Ki Banu Duniya Da on Coke Studio MTV Season 4 with singer Diljit Dosanjh. The song was released on 15 August 2015 and hit more than 32 million views on YouTube in one week. In 2009, he won "Best International Album" at the
UK Asian Music Awards for
Boot Polishan. In 2017, he won the "Filmfare Award for Living Legend" in the first
Filmfare Awards Punjabi event.
Film Aside from singing in
Punjabi, he is fluent in
Hindi,
Bengali,
Tamil,
Haryanvi and
Rajasthani. As an actor, he has performed in Punjabi, Hindi and Tamil movies, but he is best known for his starring role in
Waris Shah: Ishq Daa Waaris, a depiction of the Punjabi poet
Waris Shah during the creation of his epic poem
Heer Ranjha, again co-starring
Juhi Chawla and
Divya Dutta. He made a special appearance in
Veer-Zaara with
Shah Rukh Khan and
Preity Zinta. ==Personal life==