64 THE CARAVAN
jattlikethat· reportage
songs.ButI makethesesongsforthepeople,not
formyself....Whenyou’refroma middle-class
family,youalwaysthink,‘Ihopethosebadtimes
don’tcomebackagain.’OnceI amfeelingsecure,
andI haveothersourcesofincome,maybeI’ll
makedifferentsongs.ButI’mnotthererightnow.”
Dosanjh’sfirstveritablehitasanactorwasthe
directorMandeepSingh’s 2011 romanticcomedy
JihneMeraDilLuteya,alongsideGippyGrewal,the
otherrisingstarofPunjabimusicandfilms.Both
GrewalandDosanjhwerelaudedfortheirrolesin
thefilm,andnowhavea healthyrivalrygoing.
Dosanjh’srealbreakthroughcamethefollowing
year,throughAnuragSingh’sromanticcomedy
JattandJuliet. ThefilmwasnotonlyPunjabicine-
ma’sbiggesthit,butalsodidwellintheHindibelt,
andoverseas,collectingabouttwenty-fivecroreru-
peesintotal.ThefilmgavePunjabicinemaa hand-
bookforfilmmaking,anda genrethathassince
enthralledandgrippedthecountry.Mostbelieved
thattheturbanwouldstallDosanjh’sjourneyinto
stardom,butbystickingwithit Dosanjhnotonly
madeit biginPunjabicinema,healsopenetrated
theinsularMumbaifilmindustry.Intheprocess,
hebecamea styleiconforPunjabiyouth.
WiththereleaseofUdtaPunjab, in2016,Dosan-
jhtrulyarrivedonthenationalstage.Inthesame
year,heenteredForbesmagazine’slistofthe 100
mostpopularpeopleinIndia,andwastheonly
Sikhinit.HehasactedinseveralsuccessfulBolly-
woodfilmssincethen,andstarredinArjunPatiala,
whichwasreleasedlatelastmonth.InFebruary
2017,thewebsiteCatchNewsreportedDosanjh’s
networthtobearoundtwenty-fivemilliondollars.
ThoughDosanjhhasactedinseveralserious,
criticallyacclaimedfilms,suchastheNational
Award-winningPunjab 1984 , andSoorma, hehas
becomesynonymouswiththeideaofcomedy.If
hismanyinterviewsareanythingtogoby,Dos-
anjh’spersonaincomedyfilmsgelswellwithhis
ownpersonality.“DosanjhpaajiwasFatehSingh
eveninreallife,I realisedlater,”AnuragSingh
toldme,referringtoDosanjh’scharacterinhis
film.“Therolewasmadeforhim.”dosanjh’ssuccesswithJattandJulietseemsto
owenothingtotheimageoftheproudJattgang-
sterhecultivatedalongsideHoneySingh.Instead,
it wastheproductoftheaffablecharmandjoiedi
vivrefromDosanjh’searlydays.Thefilmwasalso
partofa revivalofcomedywritingandfilmsinthe
region,coupledwithinnovativefilmmaking.
DosanjhfeaturesinthefilmasFatehSingh,a
young,unemployed,rambunctiousman,whose
onlydreamistotraveltoCanada,marrya goriand
becomea Canadiancitizen—afantasysharedby
manyyoungmenintoday’sPunjab.FatehSingh
cannotspeakEnglish,hasbeenspoiltsillybyhismother,whomhecalls“bebe,”refusestofollow
rulesandremainsdisdainfulofanykindofet-
iquette.WhileunqualifiedassertionoftheJatt
identityremainsa feature,asevidentinthefilm’s
title,it istheself-deprecatinghumourthatmakes
thecharactercharming.
Ina scenemidwaythroughthefilm,thefemale
protagonist,Puja,playedbyNeeruBajwa,tells
FatehSinghthathisinabilitytospeakEnglish
doesnottakeanythingawayfromhisotherquali-
ties.“Tukhushdilbandahai,” shetellshim.“Gallan
battannadilnahirakhdahai.Dildasaafhai.Jo
manvichhaiohhimuhte”—Youkeepa happydis-
position.You’regood-hearted.There’snodiffer-
enceinwhatyousayandwhatyouthink.
MuchofthehumourcomesfromFateh’sdisdain
fornormsofacceptablebehaviour.Inonescene,
whereheispickinghisnose,Pujaisdisgusted.
“Rabneungliyanaisliyenidittian”—that’snotwhat
godgaveyoufingersfor,shesays.
“Achchhaji?”heresponds.“Jeaisliyenidittian
teehdas,kiungliantenaslandasizebarabarkyun
hai?”—Ifthat’snotwhathegavethemfor,then
tellmewhydidhemakefingersandnostrilsthe
samesize?
Perhapsthemostmemorablecomiccharacter
fromthefilm,though,isShampy,a foiltoFateh
whoreappearsinthesequel.Shampycallshimself
RajaBeta,andisa short,skinnyandwhinyman-
child,whoalsohasa speechimpedimenttomake
hiscomparativelackofmasculinityamplyclear.
Hespendsbothfilmsgettingslappedandbeing
bullied,appearingrandomlythroughout,oneach
occasionbeingsplatteredlikea bugonthewind-
shieldofthenarrative.
“WewantedtocreatetheduoofShampyandhis
father,”DheerajRattan,thewriterofthefilm,told
me.However,AnuragSingh“askedmetowrite
hima littledifferently.Turnhimintosomething
theheroisnot,ortheexactoppositeofhim.”
Thus,Shampyistheoppositeofwhata goodJatt
shouldbe.“IthinkShampyhasstuckinmemory
becausehehasthathonestyabouthim,”Rattan
toldme.“Hehasaspirationsbutcan’tgettothem.opposite page:
Jatt and Juliet
gave birth to
what has now
become the biggest
production house
in the Punjabi film
industry—White
Hill Productions—
which has produced
several massive hits
over the last eight
years.
Most believed that the turban
would stall Dosanjh’s journey
into stardom, but by sticking
with it Dosanjh not only made
it big in Punjabi cinema, he
also penetrated the insular
Mumbai film industry. In the
process, he became a style icon
for Punjabi youth.courtesy white hill productions