Today’s love stories belong to Facebook and WhatsApp but there was a time when even holding your beloved’s hand was a big project in itself. A time when there was no dating and the partners would only know about each other on the first day of marriage. The audience of Punjabi cinema is going to relive that moment with ‘Angrej’ on 31st July. This light hearted comedy, with the protagonists finding themselves in a tangled love story and spontaneous comic situations, stars Amrinder Gill as Angrej himself who dares to change the love scenario. Set in 1945 rural India, the film is a presentation of Dara Productions, J Studio and Aman Khatkar Arsara Films in collaboration with A Rhythm Boys Entertainment.
The film also stars Ammy Virk, Binnu Dhillon, Aditi Sharma, Sargun Mehta and Sardar Sohi. It has been directed by Simerjit Singh who has been working in the film industry from last 15 years and has many credits to his name. Amarbir Singh Sandhu, Jaspal Singh Sandhu, Aman Khatkar & Sameer Dutta have produced the film while Sukhjinder Bhachu, Amber Deep Singh & Karaj Gill are the co-producers. Amber Deep Singh has penned the story. The team last met while ‘Goreyan Nu Daffa Karo’ last year that proved to be successful at the box office.
Amrinder aka Angrej said, “Since GNDK days, we were aspiring to bring something which tickles the audience every moment and the film is subject to give a new definition to romance in Punjabi cinema. Our writer Amber Deep looked backed to that era and we sat together to write on it. It was very challenging to portray that time on screen. We had limited time to work on it and wanted it to be the best.”
Talking about Angrej, Amberdeep said, “I used to wonder how a typical Indian wedding would look like in ancient Punjab. Those were the days when the baraat would arrive three days prior to the wedding and all the baraatis would visit the bride except the groom. The culture, the food, the joy, everything I wanted to show to the youth of today.” Amberdeep knew from day one that the character of the protagonist would suit Amrinder Gill. Although there were some changes made on the set as per the director’s visualization, Amberdeep takes it normally. He said, “Everyone has his own way of perceiving things and so happens on the set of every film.
But the final result here is absolutely close to what I had visualized. The film looks superb.”As Angrej means an Englishman, Director Simarjit tells the reason behind this title, “In older times, when someone out of the village used to think ahead of times, he was given this name.
Our protagonist also is talking about loving and dating a girl which, in those times, wasn’t something normal. I have seen such culture in the 80s in Punjab and was excited to present that on screen. We went to the roots of it and our Production Designer Raashid Rangrez gave us a lot of suggestions about the colors, clothes, structure of the frame, etc.”The director also points out that one has to be over 1000 times careful while making a period film. From a pin to a plane, the team of the film was very particular about various things in the frame.
The producers of the film wanted to bring out the best in limited time. All of them are very thankful for the cooperative director, actors, designers and the whole crew who summed the project up in almost 40 days.
Singing heartthrob Ammy Virk is all excited about the film and loves the feeling of such a good start. He said, “It is a period film which is a dream of every actor. Also living the days of Punjab of the 40s is a great feeling. On the set we would do all desi stuff which now is very hard to find even in rural households.”
The lead girls Aditi and Sargun were not so easy to find. After a lot of auditions and screen tests the director could find such talent and the girls have done their job perfectly. They both praised about the whole team and are eagerly waiting for the release of ‘Angrej’.
Meet Raashid Rangrez, the man won the National Award in 2007 for taking us to the 18th century through his art direction in Punjabi film Waris Shah-Ishq Da Waaris. The man is back again to take us to Punjab of 1945. Raashid has handled the overall production design for this film which includes art direction as well as the costumes. The film was immediately planned and Raashid could not get much time to research on it. He consulted some books and references and out of his own experiences he could create a Punjab of pre-independence era.
He told, “We had to establish the geography of a Punjab which wasn’t really green that time. The colors had to be very earthy and also the costumes had to be very simple and most importantly handmade. Yes we have used all handmade costumes in the movie.”
Once again, the magic of Jatinder Shah’s music is ready to take you to another world. The world of 1945 Punjab when loving someone was not so easy. But ‘Angrej’ makes a difference and he will make you dance. The album has seven songs for which Vinder Nathumajra, Happy Raikoti, Jaggi Jagowal and Shweta Saira have penned the lyrics. It is a mix of happy, sad, dancing numbers which go perfectly with the periodic theme of the film. Jatinder Shah said, “We have tried to be as traditional as we could. My musicians and percussionists performed with their understanding of the pre-independence era of Punjab. The singers have given the songs a different touch to make it match the storyline.”
