Lights, camera, action… and Homework

Jasmine Singh

The child artistes of the Punjabi film industry might not be getting screen space that stretches to three hours; they are, however, applauded for their innocent expressions, for following the director to the tee and for impressionable acting skills. 

While the new crop of child artistes enjoys the perks of acting, at the same time they are exposed to the drill of takes and retakes, which most of them have pretty much taken in their stride! But, let’s not forget that like the established actors in the industry, they have a tough balancing act to take care of, and how...

Work and fun in one package

Siddhi Rathore, a class five student of Ryan International, already has three hit films in her kitty, Rangroot starring Diljit Dosanjh, Rabb Da Radio starring Tarsem Jassar and Daana Paani with Jimmy Sheirgill & Simi Chahal.  The light-eyed girl is in love with the world of films. “I like it, I like everything, acting , camera, Simi didi (actor Simi Chahal is now her didi, her best friend), I like all of it,” she is superbly excited being interviewed, in fact her mother, Jyoti Rathore has to intervene. Jyoti has received a positive response from the ‘industrywallas’ who tell her that Siddhi is born to be an actress, “I was eight months pregnant with my second child, but I still travelled with Siddhi to Ganganagar for the shoot because I know how much she loves to act,” shares the concerned mother. 

Mothers are always concerned, and like any concerned parent, here too you’d find one or the other parent accompanying their kids to the shoots, trying to slip the half finished homework copies in between the shots. As of now, for these child artistes, acting is fun, meeting stars, sharing pictures with them is interesting, but it is also the time when they are in a way deciding what they’d like to be when they grow up.

Young tough life 

Eleven-year-old Anmol Verma’s repertoire can make any established actor insecure! Anmol, a student of PPS Chandigarh, is already on the credit rolls of 11 Punjabi films (Ardaas, Baisakhi List, Laavan Phere to name a few), he can perform live comedy for three hours on stage, has won 97 awards in various categories, and regularly travels to foreign countries for live shows. So how does he manage studies with a hectic schedule, one wonders? “A tutor travels with me 24X7, so he updates me on whatever I miss in school,” adds Anmol in a confident tone. He is a big fan of actor Gippy Grewal and Amrit Mann and he is already decided on what he wants to be, “an actor, no second thoughts about it.” Anmol’s father Raju Verma is a Punjabi movie writer and he believes this is where Anmol has got his inclination for acting from. 

The missing link 

Though these child artistes miss out on the regular school activities like sharing lunch with classmates, going on school trips, and a lot more, they find this new world fascinating, nevertheless.

Ansh Tejpal, 11, has worked in umpteen Punjabi films, Nikka Zaildaar 1 and 2, Sargi, Love Punjab, Firangi and he definitely wants to be an actor. “I don’t even mind getting up as early as 3 in the morning for my shoot, and I can work till late in the night,” adds he. Ansh’s mother collects the missed class notes and ensures that he does equally well in studies. “I got 80 per cent marks, but I want to be an actor, I totally like everything about acting and films.” Like Ansh, Dilnoor who was seen in Subedaar Joginder Singh and now Daani Paani, is in total awe of actors and how much they work hard. “They work hard, they do their homework and that is why they are actors,” smiles the young kid who is well versed with the fact that there is a Punjabi film industry, Hindi film Industry and English film industry. “I want to work everywhere,” she gushes.  

jasmine@tribunemail.com