In Chandigarh, the lead actors of upcoming Punjabi film Furteela, Jassie Gill and Amyra Dastur, say the movie took them back to college days

Sheetal

We often call out Punjabi filmmakers for bringing repetitive stories with repetitive faces. However, in the past two years, after a lot of introspection and reflection, there have been some positive changes. So, not just thought-proving subjects but also fresh onscreen pairs have made their way to theatres. One such new jodi — Jassie Gill and Amyra Dastur — will be seen in the upcoming Punjabi film, Furteela, a story of self-discovery, love and heartbreak, which will release on April 26.

Jassie Gill was last seen in Salman Khan’s Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, opposite Palak Tiwari. As for Punjabi films, he appeared in one more than five years ago. He clarifies, “The work I did in Bollywood is different, but I am always up for doing unique stories rooted in Punjab as well.” Jassie feels he wanted to do comedy film, which also has romantic angle and offer well-etched characters, and this film has it all.

Leading lady

As for Amyra, Furteela is special, although she has worked in Punjabi films, Any How Mitti Pao and Chidiyan Da Chamba, before. She speaks highly of the shooting experience, filmmaker Amar Hundal and co-actor Jassie Gill, who in a way introduced her to the Punjabi film industry. The other two films began later, but were released before Furteela.

Amyra says she is content doing what comes her way, “I have made enough debuts, be it Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and even in Chinese action adventure film Kung Fu Yoga, back in 2017. But if you specifically ask about the Punjabi industry, I would love to work with Diljit once again, as the experience in the film Jogi was amazing. I have all the big names of Punjab in my list, including Amrinder Gill, Gippy Grewal and Binnu Dhillon.”

Talking about the off screen chemistry, Jassie teases Amyra for her singing talent, which is so good that she doesn’t have to show it to the world! Amyra has no plans to make a career in singing like many Punjabi actors. “But I would like to be an entrepreneur someday, as I studied business as a subject during college years,” she explains.

Young days

Furteela too is a college love story and the casting is perfect, as Jassie and Amyra can easily pass off as college students. Amyra recalls, “I first met him (Jassie) on the sets of Furteela and made fun of his katori cut. I couldn’t stop laughing seeing his get up for the role. He is an amazing co-star and director’s actor, as am I! No senior male actor goes to such lengths to transform for a role, especially when it comes to the hairstyle.” Jassie remained in Furteela’s look for more than 40 days and even had to do a few concerts in the same haircut. “When Amar narrated the concept of this film in a gym, I was immediately interested. He had this look in mind and the rest is history,” he says.

Jassie believes that the audience has evolved during the Covid lockdown and many filmmakers are still recovering from the losses incurred during those times. According to him, the only parameter to judge if Punjabi cinema has revived is to witness releases of two big actors on the same day. “Last it happened in March, 2016, when Love Punjab, starring Amrinder Gill, and Ardaas, starring Gippy Grewal, were appreciated by the theatre-going audiences equally, even though the films were released on the same Friday.”