Visa Vaala gurdwara, Jalandhar’s special connect with SRK-starrer Dunki

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Jalandhar, December 21

Dunki movie starring Shahrukh Khan and Taapsee Pannu released today. Interestingly, Jalandhar has a special connection with the movie as it was a ‘special’ house in a village in the district that inspired director Rajkumar Hirani to make the film which highlights the desperation of Punjabi youth to go abroad and how in order to follow that dream, they often end up adopting dangerous ways such as donkey route.

‘Quite amazed’

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Rajkumar Hirani in his statement said, “I was quite amazed by it. It is a culture over there. If any of their family members go abroad, they put up aeroplanes atop their houses.” Shahrukh Khan replied to him saying he visited Punjab to shoot there twice and had seen such homes, but he didn’t know the reason behind it. “So it means, it is a moment of pride for them,” he further added.

According to reports, there is a huge house in village Uppal with an aeroplane atop it which prompted the director to further probe and research the subject. The house was built around 2008.

There are, in fact, several houses where the owners have chosen to put up an aeroplane or other symbolic structures in the form of a water tank atop, to have a unique identity.

Rajkumar Hirani in his statement said, “I was quite amazed by it. It is a culture over there. If any of their family members go abroad, they put up aeroplanes atop their houses.” Shahrukh Khan replied to him saying he visited Punjab to shoot there twice and had seen such homes, but he didn’t know the reason behind it. “So it means, it is a moment of pride for them,” he further added.

In the movie, there is a sequence of Gurdwara Sahib Baba Nihal Singh Ji which is situated in Talhan village. Instead of parshad, planes are offered at the gurdwara by devotees aspiring to settle abroad. Even kiosks outside the shrine sell aeroplane toys. In a conversation with the film’s director Hirani in an interview, Shahrukh Khan said he got really interested when the story of this gurdwara was shared with him, to which Hirani replied, “It is known as ‘Visa Vaala’ gurdwara. I talked to several people who said that it is a belief that if they offer plane, they would definitely go abroad and every day, hundreds of hopefuls come and offer planes.”