Not fair but lovely, this one

Neha Saini
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, February 8

Body shaming, especially our infamous obsession for fair skin, makes the central theme of the upcoming Punjabi film — Kala Shah Kala. The film pairs powerhouse of talent actor Binnu Dhillon with the versatile Sargun Mehta for the first time. But that’s not the only thing to look forward to, shared the lead pair who were in the city for film promotion on Saturday.

“The film unconsciously gives a message regarding body shaming and the insecurities felt by dark complexioned people in our society,” says Binnu, who was once the dark horse of Punjabi cinema, literally. He will be playing a simple, dark complexioned village boy, who will overcome his insecurities in the film, though in real life, he did that a long time ago. “When we were kids, we didn’t have the luxury to take decisions of our life as the right was reserved for our parents. There were a lot of insecurities, not necessarily towards how we look but otherwise as well. Today, I feel that I have come across all that.”

Sargun, on the other hand, shares her own struggles while making it big in the industry. “There was a time when people did not find my voice suitable for an actor, but today this is my biggest strength.”

Similarly, many celebrities, including Priyanka Chopra, had to face challenges due to her dark complexion. But one has to come out strong, not look at ourselves through other’s eyes. This film is about that and I hope youngsters get the message across.” Working with Binnu, who she calls a power performer, Sargun says that she felt jittery on sets initially, “I was surrounded by artistes like BM Sharma, Harby Sandhu and Binnu, so imagine my nerves when I had to share a comedy scene with them. But they made it a memorable experience.”

Both the actors endorse that Punjabi film industry is gradually turning experimental with the content that is the king. “If you look at the success rate of Punjabi film industry, we stand strongly ahead of Bollywood even. The kind of films being made, that are called experimental, only happens when the industry is confident enough for them to work and I believe that soon we will see a 100 crore blockbuster Punjabi film,” said Binnu. Agreed Sargun, who has been a part of films like Ardas, Love Punjab and Kismat. “At the end, Punjabi films have worldwide audience and good content will only get our game strong.”