Nankana child actor from Mohali basks in the limelight

Akash Ghai

Tribune News Service

Mohali, July 7

Eight-year-old Gurjot Kaur and her parents are enjoying all the attention they are getting after the girl appeared as the lead child actor in ‘Nankana’, a Punjabi period movie starring renowned singer and actor Gurdas Maan.

Gurjot, a student of Class IV of Gian Jyoti Global School in Phase II here, is winning hearts with her role as the son of Gurdas Maan in the movie, which was released on Friday.

Phones of her parents, Baljinder Singh, who works as a cashier in Punjab Roadways, and mother Prabhpreet Kaur, a homemaker, have been continuously buzzing with congratulatory messages and calls. “I have started feeling like a star mom,” says Prabhpreet.

“The feeling cannot be described in words,” she replies when asked how they (the parents) felt when they saw Gurjot on the silver screen for the first time. 

The little girl too was surprised to see herself on the big screen. “I am very happy. I felt very nice on seeing myself on the big screen. Now, a lot of people come and meet me,” she says. 

The proud mother says they had never thought in their wildest dreams that their child would shine on the silver screen and that too with none other than Gurdas Maan. “It is unbelievable,” she adds.

Speaking about the journey of a child from middle class family to the celluloid, Prabhpreet says it was just a sheer luck. One fine day, a production team came to her school for auditions to pick young talent for its film. The school management recommended Gurjot for the audition and it was “love at first sight”.

“Though the production team of Nankana auditioned more than 200 students on the school campus, they selected Gurjot immediately after they saw her,” says school director JS Bedi, adding that the child is certainly extraordinary. 

Bedi honoured the child, who has made the school and the town proud, on the school premises on Saturday.

Prabhleen Kaur, a student of Class III of the school, was also selected for a role in the movie, which revolves around a strong bond between a father and a son.