Much was abuzz in Pollywood lately- a proud moment for the Punjabi Film Industry last month with a Punjabi movie unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival and an award show was organized to honor Punjabi talent in Britain! Here is wrap-up of some prime events!
Punjabi film “Saade Aale” unveiled at Cannes Film Festival
The underproduction Saade Aale became the first Punjabi film to be unveiled at Cannes this year. Earlier in 2015, Chauthi Koot directed by Gurvinder Singh became the first Punjabi film to screened at Cannes. The film was selected under the festival promotion of multiculturalism. The film is directed by Jatinder Mauhar and stars Guggu Gill, Deep Sidhu, and Amrit Aulakh.
In an interview to a news daily Deep Sidhu said, “The film is set in rural Punjab and is based on Kabaddi. The story of the film shows the attachment of people in rural Punjab with sports”. Well, this is certainly a proud moment for the entire Punjabi film industry, an achievement that would well inspire other actors and directors.
Parmish Verma finally speaks on his attack
Nearly 30 days after a life staking attack on him, Parmish Verma broke his silence and spoke on the matter. He wrote on his Facebook account that the attack on him was purely for extortion.
Parmish in his Facebook account posted a picture of him standing next to his pet dog. He said in his post, “Sat Sri Akal I am truly humbled by the love and concern you have shown me over the past few weeks. I deeply appreciate it. I am feeling much better now. There is something I wanted to clear the air about. The incident that took place was purely a threat for extortion. I have no enmity with anyone. I have never been involved directly or indirectly with people I am falsely being associated with by certain media and social media channels. It is my heartfelt appeal to not drag anyone’s family or any of their family members into this. Families are valued and treasured by everyone alike. It can be extremely tormenting for a family to go through times like these. Please do not treat them unjustly. I don’t want any family to endure what my family has. I pray no other mother suffers like mine has. I am extremely grateful to you for your prayers, your love and your patience. I hope to return amongst you really soon, fit enough to entertain. Thank you for all your love and support. It means everything to me. Parmish Verma.” (sic)
The photograph posted by him was not like the usually Parmish we him. Wishing him speedy recovery.
Britain hosts first Punjabi film awards
UK’s leading Asian Entertainment channel, BritAsiaTv, hosted Punjabi Film awards in Birmingham on May 12 for the first time. Some leading stars from the Punjabi film industry were present at the occasion.
The ceremony was hosted by Punjabi singer Jasmine Sandlas, who performed alongside Hardy Sandhu, Sharry Maan, UK born Gurj Sidhu and Sunanda Sharma. Satinder Sartaj and Gippy Grewal also performed and entertained the audience. Satinder was awarded an ‘Outstanding Achievement’ Award while Gippy won the best actor award for his flick ‘Manje Bistre’, and Sargun Mehta won best actress award for her performance in ‘Lahoriye’.
Jassi Gill debuts in Bollywood with Happy Phirr Bhaag Jaygi!
The shooting of “Happy Phirr Bhaag Jaygi”, has finally wrapped up, actress Sonakshi Sinha shared her excitement on Twitter, she tweeted, “And its a film wrap for ‘Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi’ It has been an amazing journey with an amazing team! Thank you Mudassar Aziz for giving me the opportunity to bring Happy to life! And the entire cast and crew for one of my funniest shoots! Cannot wait for August 24!” (sic)
The film marks the debut of Punjabi singer-actor Jassi Gill into Bollywood. The film features Jimmy Shergill and Abhay Deol.
Mahie Gill shares her “casting couch” story
Mahie Gill, who has both both Bollywood and Punjabi films, shared her casting couch story recently. The actor shared that there have been instances when people tried to take advantage of her in return of work. In an interview to a daily she said, “It happened with me a few times. I don’t even remember the name of the directors. I had to meet a director, so I wore a [salwar] suit and went, and he told me, ‘If you wear a suit and come, nobody is going to cast you in a film.’ Then, I met another director and he tells me, ‘I want to see how you look in a nightie’. So, you see, there are idiots all around.”
Mahie further said “it really affects” one’s state of mind. After this episode she started taking her friend along and for quite some time even doubted whom to meet and how to meet. She stopped meeting people in their offices eventually and took up acting assignments in Doordarshan for survival.
Hit song Tareefan was composed on a flight!
“Tareefan” song from the film ‘Veere di Wedding’ became a hit in a very short time. Punjabi rapper and singer Badshah sung this song and it has been composed by Qaran- a music composer, music producer, lyricist, and rapper.
In an interview to a website he shared the story behind how he composed the song. He said, “It was a great feeling to be able to introduce my sound and brand of music with ‘Tareefan’. The song was composed on a flight from Mumbai to Delhi on my iPad.”
With over 20 songs in his kitty, Qaran has worked with music director Pritam and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and delivered hits for movies like “Dilwale”, “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil” and “Bajrangi Bhaijaan”.