If there is a toss between the Bollywood flick, Cheeni Kum, and any other Bhojpuri film, the latter will hands down in Punjab. Surprised?
CHANDIGARH: If there is a toss between the Bollywood flick, Cheeni Kum, and any other Bhojpuri film, the latter will hands down in Punjab. Surprised? Don’t be as Bhojpuri film, Gavnava Le Ja Rajaji, is running to packed houses in Jalandhar!
The film will soon be released in other cities of Punjab like Amritsar and Ludhiana. Apart from Gavnala Le… at least half a dozen Bhojpuri movies are being screened in various theatres across the state.
According to Arvind Gupta, a leading film distributor, Punjabi movies have no takers these days. “Thanks to an increasing population of migrant labourers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Bhojpuri movies have been doing roaring business in cities like Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Bathinda,” he said.
Rikshawala, another latest Bhojpuri film, is running to packed houses for the fourth consecutive week in three theatres in Ludhiana, besides being screened in three cinemas in Jalandhar and Bathinda.
Such is the demand that distributors are comparing the profits from Hindi films with that from Bhojpuri flicks.
Rakesh Sabarwal, member of the Northern India Film Distributors Association, said Rikshawala was likely to gross over Rs 25 lakh in Punjab, a record earning for any film in the state.
He, however, added that Bhojpuri movies were doing well only in those places where migrant labourers were present. Unlike Bollywood blockbusters that are screened in multiplexes, Bhojpuri films are released in small theatres where tickets are available for Rs 15 or Rs 20.
“As the migrant labourers from UP and Bihar cannot afford to watch films in multiplexes, the Bhojpuri films have become popular among them,” he said.
Most of these labourers come to Punjab during the sowing and harvesting seasons. In Ludhiana, their number has shot up by lakhs in the past five years.
With their families not around, the Bhojpuri films fill in the cultural void they experience in Punjab.
Comedian Jaspal Bhatti, who has produced three Punjabi films, said instead of assimilating with the culture of the state, the migrant population was seeking to decimate Punjabi culture and cinema.
Bhatti blamed Punjabi film producers for not coming up with healthy films. He said this was a worst phase ever for Punjabi cinema as producers were incurring heavy losses.
He, however, welcomed the fact that Bhojpuri cinema had managed to carve a niche for itself in Punjab.
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