Punjabi antenna
An example to follow
Randeep Wadehra

Last fortnight Khabarsaar (Zee Punjabi) debated Gursharan Singh’s contribution to the evolution of Punjab’s socio-political thought processes. His plays espoused Leftist ideology, which is no more in vogue, thanks to the Soviet Union’s disintegration, China’s revisionism and the Indian Communist Parties’ inability to come to grips with the changed economic and political realities. However, nobody can deny the fact that its influence on capitalism has been profound and abiding.

Concepts like corporate social responsibility and egalitarianism have had a humanising impact on not only the profit-seeking behemoths but also the manner in which democratic governments function in various parts of the world. People like Gursharan will be remembered for helping in making this humane factor a constant in our society as well as general governance.

Jagjit Singh replaced traditional instruments with guitar and dholak in ghazal singing

The passing away of singer Jagjit Singh was mourned by people from various parts of the country. Hailing from Rajasthan’s Sriganganagar, he was a Punjabi all the way. He will be remembered for changing the grammar of ghazal singing. Not only did he replace traditional instruments with guitar and dholak but he also did away with many a classical embellishment in order to make ghazal popular with the lay audience – and he succeeded phenomenally.

Actually, this set me thinking. Punjabis have been immensely successful in Mumbai’s entertainment industry. But their successes there have failed to trigger off a revolution in Punjabi cinema and television.

Who will believe today that Punjab was among the leaders in film production during the pre-Partition days? Lahore had Hari Ram Seth’s Punjab Film Company and AR Kardar’s United Players’ Corporation among the pioneers and frontrunners of Indian cinema. The dawn of the talkie era saw frenetic production of movies by several producers. KD Mehra’s Punjabi films Sheila and Heer Sayal were a success, inspiring other producers and directors to enter the field. Soon, Lahore became the most important centre of Hindi film production in the country.

But the Partition knocked Punjab off the pedestal. In spite of such memorable movies as Madhi Da Deeva, Satlaj De Kande and Nanak Naam Jahaaz Hai, Punjabi cinema does not figure among the best in the country. Most of the stuff churned out comprises poor Bollywood imitations or the hackneyed vendetta narrative. Since the recently introduced NRI theme, too, is being flogged to death, there is little hope for Punjabi cinema’s recovery anytime soon.

There really is no systemic process to recognise and nurture talent for the entertainment industry. The so-called academies in the region are neither interested in nor capable of doing the job. One has yet to hear of an actor, director or cinematographer from these academies making any impact on the regional, let alone national, entertainment scene. Most of the successful Punjabi actors, directors, cinematographers and media persons have only their own talent and efforts to fall back upon.

The Punjabi TV scene is disheartening, too. Most of the reality shows based on general knowledge, comedy or music are products of unoriginal ideas; creativity is at its nadir. The likes of Sajda don’t last long. Even news-based productions, more often than not, fail to live up to expectations. Most of these are poorly researched; the debates often remain substandard as most of the participants are either ill-informed or politically biased. Sadly, even those from the academia become mealy mouthed while discussing economic issues facing the region for reasons best known to them. If our intellectuals refuse to face up to a problem, how would it be resolved?

Punjabi television and cinema lack skills in content management and human resource development. Only committed persons with vision can remove these deficiencies. Will the Punjabi entertainment industry’s wait for Godot ever end?