A story well told

Jasmine Singh

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Here comes another Punjabi wedding, but this one is definitely ‘different’ in its entire sense because this wedding is happening in Pakistan! Now, this is called Punjabis going far and wide. And far, they certainly have gone with new ideas and storylines. This week’s Punjabi film release Lahoriye raises the benchmark of Punjabi cinema with its storyline. Directed by debutant director Amberdeep Singh who has also written the film, Lahoriye is a one- of- its kind romance across the border. 

Amberdeep has already established himself as a prolific writer in the industry, now with his direction he is out to create a mark in this field as well. Amberdeep’s direction sensitively brings out the pain of Partition, without going overboard or sounding repetitive. 

The film is slightly slow in parts, catching pace randomly. The dialogues of the film are simply beautiful. Despite being laced with emotions, it somehow doesn’t touch ‘that’ sensitive chord that it is expected to, except for the last patch of the film. 

Amberdeep has ensured that all the characters of his film get a chance to perform. As said before, it is the story of the film that stands to gain all the points. As a writer too, Amberdeep has balanced emotions, laughter and romance pretty well. 

Amrinder Gill, as the lead actor, makes us laugh and feel for his romance in the same breath, thanks to the dialogues given to him. But somehow we don’t feel that shiddat or let’s say passion in his love. Actress Sargun Mehta looks beautiful in her Pakistani attires and curly locks. Here too, one misses her onscreen passion and strength that we’ve witnessed in her previous films like Angrej and Love Punjab. She, however, does justice to her role by a perpetual coyness that is stuck to her in the film. It is in Lahoriye that we see singer-actor Yuvraj Hans after a long time, a good sight. Yuvraj too doesn’t come across as a game changer in the film as he has been portrayed for a while. Actors Gugu Gill, Nirmal Rishi, Hobby Dhaliwal, and Amberdeep (yes the director and writer) come out rather well-etched in their short and sweet roles. Rajiv Thakur’s role too doesn’t convince us much. There is a slight disappointment with Sardar Sohi as we don’t get to see and hear him much. Since Sardar Sohi is such a brilliant artiste, audience don’t expect to see anything less from him. As for Nimrat Khaira, we would rather hear more of her as a singer. 

Also, all the artistes who represent the Pakistani side in the film deserve applause in the film for their dialect. The music of the film done by music director Jatinder Shah is superb. The song Akhar, sung by Amrinder Gill is a hit.

Lahoriye is a film that touches boundaries that most films being made in Punjabi film industry wouldn’t think of, it is certainly a brave and beautiful attempt. If only it had pace and it could really shake our emotional strings, Lahoriye would have left all of us in Lahore only!

Film: Lahoriye  
Director: Amberdeep Singh
Cast: Amrinder Gill, Sargun Mehta, Sardar Sohi, Nirmal Rishi, Rajiv Thakur, Yuvraj Hans, Hobby Dhaliwal, Nimrat Khaira 
Rating: ****