In the last few years, Punjabi Cinema has been struggling hard to come out of a set pattern of films revolving around some specific genres, largely dominated by comedy. But recently many of Punjab’s renowned veterans have adapted the path of conceiving short-films with a vision of making a major breakthrough in the existing notion about both Punjabi Cinema and its viewers quite thoughtfully.
The most significant feature of these initiatives is that they are all based on subjects and stories chosen from the rich literature of Punjab that unfortunately is not being considered as a key source of inspiration by many mainstream film-makers. Interestingly, internationally acclaimed director Gurvinder Singh earlier made his National Award-winning film ‘Anhe Ghodey Da Daan’ (Alms of a Blind Horse) on a Punjabi novel with the same title by renowned author Gurdial Singh, and recently he has made ‘Chauthi Koot’ (The Fourth Direction) based on the short stories by Waryam Singh Sandhu.
Following the same appreciable vision, celebrated lyricist-writer-director of Punjab, Amardeep Singh Gill made his first short film ‘Sutta Naag’ (Sleeping Snake) based on the famous story of highly respected writer Late Ram Saroop Ankhi, and recently he has made ‘Khoon’ (Blood/Murder) on a very touching emotional short story by the well known author Gurbachan Singh Bhullar.
Admittedly being period films, talking about that bygone era when life was not lived at such a brisk pace on the pretext of ‘multi-tasking’, these films might turn out to be a slow-paced visualization of life lived in the rural regions of the country to many in their initial 10 minutes of duration. Plus, the usage of highly authentic Punjabi language with typical regional words in its key dialogues might be an issue for the Punjabi-speaking population living in the metro cities. However, it’s the final concluding moments of these short films that actually turn them all into ‘must watch, thought-provoking attempts’ by the concerned makers, giving you that unexpected emotional shock, capable of changing one’s complete outlook towards life and its strange, multi-layered relationships with the people around.
Particularly talking about the latest release on Youtube titled ‘Khoon’, directed by Amardeep Singh Gill and featuring the talented Harsharan Singh in the lead role, the film takes its own time to establish a relationship with the viewer in the opening sequences. The lengthy shots focusing on the thinking patterns of the main protagonist lost in his own deadly plans (presented as a monologue) repeatedly put you in doubts about where the film is actually heading and what possibly can be the final outcome justifying its violent title ‘Khoon’.
But the moment it reaches the final sequence with a child artist saying the most gratifying line resulting in a heart-piercing loud sigh from Harsharan Singh standing in front of him, the film delivers its winning ace and you have nothing but all praises for such an emotional thought shared in just 35 minutes with sparkling twinkles in your eyes.
In few words, this new trend of making short films on stories from the rich-unexplored treasure of Punjabi literature surely needs to be supported by both the industry as well as the viewers for their own creative growth and satisfaction. Otherwise they are already many moneybags-turned-filmmakers churning out badly made comedy films every other Friday in the name of Punjabi Cinema.
So do give this a try and see yourself.
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