The director of upcoming Punjabi film Sarabha, based on the life of freedom fighter Kartar Singh Sarabha, says Punjab’s history is full legends worth retelling

Sheetal

The trailer of Punjabi film Sarabha is creating a lot of buzz, as it is the first-ever attempt by any filmmaker to bring the story of freedom fighter Kartar Singh Sarabha on to the screen. As director Kavi Raz’s Sarabha releases in theatres this Friday, he talks about his inspiration and how he ended up playing a part in the film too.

Just like Shoojit Sircar’s Sardar Udham, Kavi Raz harboured the dream to make a film on Sarabha during his lifetime. He confesses, “I waited for three decades to finally bring it to the screen. It’s both a fortunate and unfortunate situation for me. I feel happy to have made my thoughts a reality, but at the same time it’s sad that not many filmmakers are turning to history for inspiration. Punjab’s history is full of sacrifices and legends worth retelling. Even Bollywood is fishing out historical incidents for stories. It’s high time we should catch up.”

Right choice

The trailer has already crossed over 3.3 million views and even the songs have found favour. He explains, “It was both a natural progression as well as conscious attempt. As we know Sarabha was a writer himself, so we incorporated some of his songs into the film, such as Seva Desh Di and Hind Wasiyon Rakhna Yaad Sanu.”

On casting Japtej Singh for the titular character, Kavi shares how he was suggested many names from Pollywood. “I wanted the actor to look like Sarabha. For an established actor to play a historical figure, stardom often comes in the way because people have seen them before and sometimes it’s hard for the audiences to imagine their favourite actors in a biopic. So, Japtej was the right choice,” he says.

For the unversed, Japtej had previously played Milkha Singh’s childhood version in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and also served as a child actor in the films Son Of Manjeet Singh and Mitti Na Pharol Jogiya.

Act of faith

The director also showcases his years of experience as an actor when he portrays Sohan Singh Bhakna in Sarabha. He says, “It was a last-minute decision as there was either date or budget issues with some actors who were shortlisted. So, like I have often done before, when any actor is short, I step up and this time it was to play Sohan Singh Bhakna.” The Black Prince director-producer had earlier played a beggar in the same film.

The biggest challenge in the making of Sarabha was the pandemic, as the director couldn’t shuttle between Los Angeles and India for the post-production work. While a lot of research went into making the film, Kavi says, “For those who feel some scenes are missing, we have kept all the relevant anecdotes from his life, including the one where Kartar Singh Sarabha and Bhagat Singh crossed paths.”

As for the future, the director is working on a Hollywood series, an English film and also an untitled Punjabi film, which is in pre-production stage. He hopes to begin shooting of his next film by January next year.