Language code

Jasmine Singh

Advertisement

Sairat, a Marathi film that touched upon the sensitive topic of casteism woven in an innocent love affair, has been the highest grossing movie for 2016. And now, Punjabi film production house White Hill Productions has bought the exclusive rights to remake it in Punjabi.

The remake is being directed by Pankaj Batra of Bambukat fame. The film will mark the debut of singer Ninja, who plays the lead actor’s role in the film. Pankaj talks about it more.

Why only Sairat?

There are three; one, this Marathi film has an exceptionally ‘fresh’ romance that we haven’t seen in a long time. Two, the music is fabulous and three, it touches upon the subject of honour killing, which is prevalent also in Punjab.

Changing contours

Yes, we would be making changes according to Punjabi sensibilities. The Marathi version deals with casteism, a very sensitive issue that we cannot highlight in Punjab. So, accordingly we will change this part of the film.

I won’t touch this...

I wouldn’t touch the romance bit; I think the first half of Sairat can be totally retained.

The Punjabi tadka

Even though we haven’t titled the film yet, it would be shot extensively in Punjab and parts of Chamba as well as Dalhouise in Himachal Pradesh. And just like the Marathi version, we would be sending this film for various festivals.

jasmine@tribunemail.com