Comedy allures

In the 2011 Hindi film, The Dirty Picture, it was nice to hear the protagonist Silk say that the Hindi film industry thrives on three things — entertainment, entertainment and entertainment. It seems that of late, the Punjabi film industry has also started taking this dialogue seriously.

As Punjabi singer Ravinder Grewal makes his debut as an actor in the film, Aiven Raula Pai Gaya, he talks to HT City along with the film’s director, Atharv Baluja, about making an ‘entertaining masala film’. The cast of the film was at Chandigarh Press Club, Sector 27, on Monday to promote their August 31 release.

From a young man’s eye
Not just Ravinder Grewal, it is also Delhi boy Atharv Baluja’s first film as a director. Atharv, 24, who did his B Tech from Thapar University, Patiala, in 2009, shares, “I had always been a movie buff, watching at least one movie a day. While in college, I made two feature films using my handy cam, followed by two music videos on songs by Ravinder Grewal: Banda Singh Bahadar and Kalli Nu Mil Mitra.”

Atharv, who is also a certified Autodesk Smoke video editor (an online procedure that deals in finishing and perfecting a film) talks about his film’s USP, “We have used this editing technique in the film. Also, the sound effects have been given by Just Foley, a Mumbai-based sound post studio that gave the sound effects for films such as Cocktail and Bol Bachchan.”

‘Born actor’
Ravinder and Atharv share the opinion that the former is a ‘born actor’. “Though I undertook acting classes, I think acting comes to me naturally,” says Ravinder, adding that Aiven Raula Pai Gaya has been shot at a budget of R2.5 crore in Hemkunt Sahib, Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Chandigarh and Goa. Says Atharv, “Ravinder debunks the theory that singers can’t be good actors. Also, he launches his own production house, RG Productions, with this movie.”

Cast in action
Jalandhar girl Surbhi Jyoti, who was last seen in a cameo in 2010 Punjabi film, Ik Kudi Punjab Di, plays the female lead. “I have been doing theatre for the past eight years and have worked in TV serials such as Kach Diyan Wanga,” she informs.

The film also stars veterans such as B N Sharma, Binnu Dhillon, Jaswinder Bhalla, Kartar Cheema, Maninder Vaily and Sardar Sohi. But Atharv says audiences shouldn’t mistake it as any other comedy. “This is going to be a very different film, as every character is portrayed differently. Also, it does not include senseless comedy, so it’s not just the comedians, but other actors too who make you laugh,” he shares.