Chandigarh, Aug 21 (IANS) Fans of Ishmeet Singh, the 19-year-old singing contest winner who died July 29 in the Maldives, will now be able to hear his only attempt at playback singing with the release of the music album of forthcoming Punjabi movie “Sat Sri Akal”.”Ishmeet has sung a shabad (religious song) in the movie. My heart is full of sorrow and sympathy while saying that it is his first and last playback for any film. He was a promising singer with a unique soothing touch in his voice,” Arvinderjit Singh, writer of the movie, said here Wednesday at the launch of the album.

Ishmeet, from Punjab’s industrial city of Ludhiana, shot into limelight after winning the first “Voice of India” title in November 2007. His sudden death due to drowning in a swimming pool shocked his fans, thousands of whom turned out for his funeral.

“Ishmeet has done a great job and we consider the shabad sung by him the unique selling proposition (USP) of our movie with its immaculate composition and lyrics,” said Arvinderjit Singh, who is also the chief trustee of the Mata Triptaji Charitable Trust, which has co-produced the movie.

“‘Sat Sri Akal’ revolves around traditional values, love, sentiments and immense fait in god. It shows the various pilgrimage places like Sri Harmandar Sahib in Amritsar, Sri Bangla Sahib in Delhi and Sri Hazur Sahib in Nanded,” said Singh.

Another special thing about “Sat Sri Akal” is that the lead role is played by a turbaned Sikh, Manpreet Singh, which is very rare.

“There is still a long way to go before our cinema accepts a turbaned Sikh as a hero in any movie. There is a widespread perception that Sikh guys are ideally suited only for the roles of a comedian or of a truck driver or a taxi driver,” said Manpreet.