Punjabi films need a serious effort: Gulzar

With a vision to take Punjabi cinema to yet another level, talented film actor and producer Gulzar Inder Singh Chahal hopes to bring seriousness to the Punjabi film industry with the release of 'Dil Tainu Karda Ae Pyar'. In city recently, TOI caught up with him where he spoke about the dos and don'ts of the acting world.

"My character's name in the film is Baljit who is a young handsome guy with a heart of gold. He is helpful, grounded and has a variety of shades." Ask him about the USP of this project and he states, "What drove me to this film was its script which is written by celebrated scriptwriter Dheeraj Rattan. I believe it is one of the finest scripts in Punjabi cinema ever. Also, our director Ajay K Pannala has been a dear friend."
Read more

Gulzar, who has also worked in a Hindi film I Am Singh with Tulip Joshi, based on mistaken identity and hate crimes against Sikhs in the US after 9/11, has not signed any Hindi film thereafter. "For now, I am content doing Punjabi cinema. Being a hard core Punjabi myself, Punjabi cinema is my first preference."

Talking about the boom in Punjabi cinema, Gulzar is upbeat, "The industry is indeed coming of age considering the trend of cross-audiences and Mumbai actors coming to Punjabi cinema. But for Punjabi cinema to grow to the level of Bollywood, we strictly need a serious team effort," says Gulzar who is making a realistic film under his own production house along with singer, actor Harbhajan Maan.