PUNJABI ANTENNA
DD’s comic relief
Randeep Wadhera

Khushkhabri. A comedy Teri Meri Ikk Jindadi, starring Bobby Ghai, will soon regale you on DD Punjabi. It’s a comic take on the middle class. Alpha Punjabi too is coming up with Aulad, a family saga with a difference. It’s about three parents, the good (Vijay Tandon) with wayward progeny, the bad (Dr. Ranjit Sharma) blessed with virtuous children, and the issueless (JS Gogi). The cast includes Arti Puri, Bobby Ghai and Sandeep Chugh. Directed by Darshan Rahi and written by Dr Ranjit Sharma, it promises to be an absorbing interplay of attitudes, emotions and situations.

There was comedy and drama in real life too. Politicians dread empty seats during election campaigns, but here the audience was present while the invited politicos’ chairs remained vacant. Alpha Punjabi’s Khabarsaar team was shooting a talk show in Ludhiana. Balwant Singh Ramoowalia (Lok Bhalai Party), Manish Tiwari (Congress) and Sharanjit Dhillon (SAD) were to answer the public’s questions. Dhillon cried off at the last moment, while Tiwari didn’t turn up at all. After a three-hour wait, the incensed people went ahead with the show by themselves. Ramoowalia did turn up, albeit well past midnight. And all he did was sidestep uncomfortable questions and avoid jousting with the prospective voters. Looks like our netas prefer discretion to valour.

Eye-catcher

He’s levelheaded, talented and, of course, ambitious. Bobby Ghai began his acting career as a child artiste in box office hit Lalkaar Jatt Di in 1991-92. Thenceforth, he never looked back. After essaying meaty roles in movies like Jatt Joona Maur and Truck Driver and serials like Apne Begane, and Teri Meri Ikk Jindadi, Bobby has branched out into production. 

In partnership with Ravinder Happy, he has set up a production house BOHASO that works in tandem with Bollywood producers. Some of the famous productions that have outsourced work to them are JP Dutta’s LOC and Sahara’s Mission Fateh.