A brand called Desi

Jasmine Singh

It started with Punjabi movie Angrej where the audience saw the setting of a pretty authentic Punjabi village. For many in the audience it was for the first time they saw such a clear picture of a village—tokka (cutter), manjhi (bed made of bamboo/nawaar), chulha (earthen hearth), sandook (trunk)...for many even the words were new.

And now, as expected of the Punjabi film culture, every Punjabi film has been placed in the Punjabi rural setting. Be it Bambukat, Main Teri Tu Mera, 25 Kille, Teshan or the upcoming Nikka Zaildar, every film has captured more than just a glimpse of the rural Punjab. If this is a new trend, will this help Punjabi filmmakers to win more NRI audience, or is it a drive to take the Punjabis back to their roots, or is the as always case of following the crowd blindly!

Just following the theme

While many Punjabi film directors are of the opinion that they do not forcibly bring in a rural setting in their film, they just follow the script. We, however, see more and more films doing the same.

Producer Hardev Singh Dhillon sees the NRI audience connecting to films that shows a desi Punjab. “In addition to a good script and good performances, the reason why Angrej did well was because it had captured the rural, desi old- world Punjab. The whole setting gave a feeling of nostalgia to the audience in Canada, Australia and Italy.”

The desi feel does make for an USP, but the catch is to make this rural setting look completely authentic.

Real touch

Celebrated scriptwriter Amberdeep should be credited for creating that old-world Punjab through his story of Angrej. “How can a director forcibly show a desi Punjab or desi characters till the script demands so.”

But how every second script is being set in a rural Punjab? Amberdeep just smiles.

Director Mandeep, however, feels that the answer should come from the audience. “If the audience, young and old, want to see a rural Punjab, why not give them one?” Mandeep also feels that since many non-Punjabis are watching Punjabi films, “they still feel that real Punjab lies in rural Punjab only.”

Well, this in itself takes the form of a question—why not show the real rural Punjab then, why take liberties in designing sets? Why not show the way people are, how they live, how they talk.

Punjab as you like

Famous singer-actor Roshan Prince takes the lead in answering this. “If you have seen my film Main Teri Tu Mera, you’d see that we have shown how food was cooked in a chulha, how biscuits were made on order then stored in a pipa (metal containers). Since my story revolved around a complete desi guy who lives in a village, we showed it as it is.”

Interestingly, the rural setting of every Punjabi film has given rise to a new brand called Desi! Will someone explain this!