WHAT IS THE PUNJABI FILM INDUSTRY GETTING WRONG?

 

It usually follows that when art is created thought, creativity, effort and innovation would have presided in its creation. But you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

I would love for the current quality of movies that are coming out of the Punjabi film industry oven to be…..good?

Today low quality, unoriginal, sub par writing and a perpetual need to milk any cash making opportunity that comes your way, mark the Punjabi film industry. Repetitive plots, cringe fights scenes, forced comedy in each genre and cowardice to make hard hitting cinema on current and controversial topics are commonplace.

This had been my observation for a very long time and a recent watch of two particular movies, “Kudi Haryane wal di” and ‘Jatt nu chudail takri’ confirmed it. Was it painful? Yes. Did I lose some future cognitive ability? Also yes.

Though it must be noted that these movies are still not at the end of the ‘terribleness’ scale they are still very disappointing.

Even though they hope to hide themselves under the guise of “doing something different”, they stick out like a sore thumb.

There is an exceptionally large overflow of comedy and slice of life genre movies in the Punjabi industry. Another widely available genre is something that I’d call ‘soft romance’. Displays of puppy love, ‘Pariwaaran di takraar’ and ‘Apan viaah kadh karauna?’. They are romantic enough to pull a young crowds to the theatres but not strong enough to drive out families.

In the end, the main reason for producing or making films today (on the whole) is not creativity or the art itself, but money.

This is characteristic of places where funding and resources are not commonplace. Anything that keeps the crew fed (and the greedy producers’ pockets full), goes.

But it still stands that the ideal case scenario would be that art presides. You still want to eat the cake. That’s not a crime.

In stark contrast, anything by Gurvinder Singh is at the complete opposite of the spectrum with brilliance, dedication, a worthy plot and (rightfully) genuine accolades. Well, what I just mentioned is leagues above and maybe not a fair comparison (like comparing chips with a gratin), but even movies like ‘Jaggi’ or even ‘Sikander I’ (shocking I know) outshine the popular products that are being produced today. With convincing and authentically innovative plots, consistent themes and a genuine passion for filmmaking, these movies are a real treat. A cake, if you will.