After a film with Diljit Dosanjh, Sargun Mehta is ready to diversify and that includes the digital medium

Sheetal

It was a Diljit Dosanjh film that helped actress Sargun Mehta make a life-altering decision to work in Pollywood. Now that Sargun has shared screen space with the actor in the Punjabi film, Babe Bhangra Paunde Ne, she can’t be happier. She says, “The first Punjabi film that I ever watched was a Diljit Dosanjh film. So, I thought, ki ye dekha tha, ye dekhkar socha tha ki Punjabi film karenge, and look where has it got me. It was a great experience working with him. He is amazing at what he does and is a humble artiste. There’s so much to learn from him.”

Released last year, the film is now streaming on Zee 5.

Sargun, who started her career with Zee TV with 12/24 Karol Bagh, calls her association with the channel a great one. “From working in my first-ever show, 12/24Karol Bagh, producing my first film, Kala Shah Kala, to last year’s biggest Punjabi hit Saunkan Saunkne, is the proof of the great relationship I share with Zee and Zee5.”

Pollywood may have seen many ups and downs in the recent past, but Sargun has generally been having a good time ever since she stepped into Punjabi film industry. And what’s her secret? Well, for starters, Sargun doesn’t give her nod to ‘any project unless the character is good’.

“Frankly, if the character is not right, then it doesn’t matter how big the project is,” she says. The same stands for her conviction in stories that made her produce television shows and films. Take last year’s Punjabi hit Saunkan Saunkne for example. For this year, Sargun has plans to venture into the digital medium.

Loving wife Naseeb Kaur in Saunkan Saunkne, tough SHO Gudiya Parmar in Cuttputlli, medical supervisor Preet in Babe Bhangra Paunde Ne and love-struck girl Gorey in Moh, Sargun showed her versatility as an actress in 2022.

Talking about her big Bollywood break with Cuttputlli, she says, “I enjoyed Cuttputlli because it was a challenge to look like a tough cop.”

For more depth and range in female roles in Punjabi films, Sargun holds a view, “With every role that we do as an actress, it doesn’t open just one door but millions of doors for everybody. I think I did a great job with Moh, and the character was something different for the audience. Roles like that further the way women are perceived on screen.”

On the line-up for this year, Sargun is not giving away much about her upcoming projects, but only hopes. “This one will be a good year for Pollywood. Last year, the industry definitely paid the price for Covid. The films, which released recently, were shot three or four years earlier. By the time of the release, audience had moved on to other subjects and matters of interest.”

The actor-producer has given two daily soaps, Udariyaan and Swarn Ghar, to the national audience under her banner Dreamiyata Productions.

Together with her business and life partner Ravie Dubey they started the year 2023 with the announcement of new show, Junooniyat. She says, “We wish to bring more interesting stories forward, be it on the 70mm screen or television. And now, from this year on, we will make our presence felt on the digital platform as well.”