Q. In the beginning itself I would like to start off with the most pertinent question as to your journey thought the struggling days and how you managed to start from zero and reach this amazing stage of your career?
A. That’s a good question. Actually, I personally believe that the journey does not start from zero but from 100 and descends from there and it makes you learn at each downward spiral as he continues to add to his achievements. Luckily I have been blessed that I have personally not experienced any downfall as such. From a small village near Amritsar to this stage of my career all I can do is count my blessings.
Q. What according to you are the current dynamics of the Punjabi film industry?
A. Let’s say that I get someone who wants to produce a film. Sometimes star power also kicks in and the Producer is unable to grasp the situation which is not his fault. Today, who is calling the shots, it’s either the hero or the heroine. The day these dynamics change and the Producer starts knowing his actual value, calls the shots and his dependency on stars will reduce and that will be the day when even more real good cinema will get made. Currently, the system is skewed in favour of the hero or the heroine.
Q. While you write scripts, do you get inspired by the surroundings or situations that affect you?
A. Writing is an art and to be very honest I don’t even know how I got into this. I just put my pen to paper and it all happened as if with divine intervention.
Q. You seem to have a lot of faith the Almighty and have heaps of confidence in his benevolence. Any particular reason behind it?
A. Absolutely, I am whatever I am whatever I am just because of His Grace.
Q. You seem to be pretty averse to giving interviews, any particular reason for the same?
A. Actually, I feel that it’s the same old questions that come your way. It’s the same about upcoming films, presently doing which films and so on and so forth. So maybe that could be the reason.
Q. What is your take on ‘Karma’?
A. I personally believe that you should do what you feel like doing that should be good and it satisfies you. You should immediately own it and go ahead with it and the goodness will come back On the other hand if you want to do anything bad then also remember that it will come back to haunt you in one way or the other. For me this is Karma.
Q. The rule of life is, no one does any special favour for anyone. It’s a proven fact that brothers or friends will usually not go out of the way to help each other. Rather at times they can resist or even be jealous. Whatever we need to create, we create it ourselves only?
A. In today’s time, forget about helping, no one is there to even guide you with the smallest thing. However, in the earlier times and even now in the industry we have a few people who would go to any extent to help someone. Their number might be small but still they matter and its them who make the industry what it is today.
Q. Does a film work simply on star power or basically good content? What is your take on it?
A. Despite their huge stardom even Bollywood stars are aware that only good content will be accepted by the people. Content has always been the king and it forever will be. The stress should be on the storyline and once we start working towards them, then budgets will also come down and in that case cost of production will fall too and that will eventually help the producer to recover his money faster. So along with content keeping control on budgets is also imperative.
Q. There has been a recent case of a top Bollywood star who was not signed for a particular film by a mega Production House because they felt that the money he was asking was too much. And instead of the big star they selected a relatively newer face at a much reduced cost. Is our Punjabi industry also a silent victim of that? What are your views about this?
A. Actually it is how you look at it. All depends on the budget too. If someone has Rupees one crore with him and he wants to sign a big name then that’s not possible.. He should instead look for someone who fits into that budget and gets the best out of him or her. It is actually your dedication towards making the film that matters. If any Punjabi film star has reached a certain level then he has achieved it only through his hard work and dedication only and they deserve the price that they command.
Q. So what you are actually saying is that newer faces should also be introduced in the industry?
A. Of course, yes. When we look at the current scenario we can count the current stars, directors, writers, music directors on our fingertips. Actually there should be a level playing field and more and more people should join the bandwagon. The more the merrier. This way we can launch new faces and overall the industry will benefit as we will have a bigger talent pool. Sadly, as of now there are hardly any options left other than the available ones.
Q. How do you approach your work?
A. If someone comes to me, I tell him about 3 to 4 concepts that I have worked upon. Once everything is decided and we start working together, from that time till the end of filming, I do not interfere in any manner with the shoot, acting etc., in the film. However, as a writer it is my professional duty to ensure that the script stays true to the story, theme, backdrop etc. My endeavour is just to be careful about maintaining the aura of my story, rest I let the Director take the call.
Q. Any parting words?
A. If I am writing something and am not confident about it, then how can I expect anyone else to accept it. So first I need to be happy with my own work and only then everyone else will be. So self-belief is very important.
