Seeking the divine

Sutanterpal Singh

Making a documentary is certainly not an easy task for any documentary 

maker, as it requires a lot of effort and financial support. When Gurpreet Singh Cheema (24), who hails from Zira, Ferozepur district, decided to make 

a documentary on Patiala’s Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran Sahib, he was well aware of its challenges and difficulties.

After crossing all obstacles, he has come up with a 25-minute documentary on the Gurdwara Dukh Niwarn Sahib. It took him almost two years in completing the history, rituals, emotions and association of the people with the gurdwara through his documentary, which he has done on his own without any support.

In the beginning, he had to fulfil all necessary formalities to shoot on the gurdwara premises. The first big task was to take permission for capturing moments of the gurdwara from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). He went through many hurdles while getting the permission. He met many officials of the committee, and it took him four months to get the permission.

“Initially, I had to travel here and there for the permission and met many people in this regard. After struggling for one month, I started rethinking on my decision of making this documentary. But finally, after four months I got the permission,” explained Gurpreet. 

Throwing light on his journey, Gurpeet says, “I feel being a media student and a Sikh, it is my responsibility to contribute to Sikhism through my art, so I took the initiative of collecting all untold facts about our gurus. I started making the documentary with limited equipment, but I was determined to come up with a documentary, which would help the people know about the gurdwara. I paid a number of visits to the gurdwara to capture all moments in my camera. While making the documentary, I especially took care of continuity. Whenever I missed any scene, I waited for two to three months to shoot the same scene again.”             

 After completing his documentary, the big task in front of him was its release. He is planning to upload the documentary on his YouTube channel, before Diwali. He is also in touch with foreign Punjabi channels to broadcast his documentary.

“I am very hopeful that the documentary will help people living outside Punjab or abroad, including younger generation to know about their gurus and religion, who made huge sacrifices for us. There are very less documentaries on the history of gurdwaras and in future I wish to continue doing efforts in this direction,” expressed the young cinematographer.

 Gurpreet, who has been working as a freelancer cinematograph in Mumbai, says despite lack of support and a shortage of equipment, he continued his efforts and after two years his efforts born fruit. Tejinder Sharma, producer at EMRC, Punjabi University Patiala, has written the script of the documentary. He has also given the voice for the documentary.

 Gurpreet, who has done his Bachelor in Journalism and Mass Communication from Punjabi University, has worked on various Punjabi songs videos as an associate 

cinematographer. He was also a part of Diljit Dosanjh’s Sardaar Ji 2 for the Mumbai schedule where he was the associate cinematographer. Besides, he has also worked in two Marathi movies.