Diljit Dosanjh who is star in Punjabi cinema as well in Bollywood was once told, he isn’t made for films because he is a Sardar. Well, sad but true. Looking at his success rate now, it's easy to say this man broke all the stereotypes and is shining like a superstar.
We had a candid chat with Diljit on how he manages to stay relevant, grounded and his love for cinema.
Diljit admits he's very picky in doing Bollywood films but he couldn’t resist to his next film Arjun Patiala, "I was told there is only comedy in this film, and people will come at the theaters and forget all their personal worries and will only laugh and I was like chalo ye mudda achcha hai. Laughing is also very important in life and I haven’t done this kind of film in Bollywood yet."
He further went on saying, “When they were narrating me the script, they told me there is no content (mudda), and I got scared. I was like what is this, but when they narrated me, I found it extremelyfunny. It’s differently funny which I have never done before. I have done more rom-coms, but haven’t ever done an out an out comedy where there is no mudda,? just comedy. So I thought this would be good for me, because I have been offered lots of serious films."
When quizzed why he does selective Bollywood films, he explains, "In Punjabi cinema, everything is in my hand right from when to put one Instagram post about the film or even which song I want to do first, how much money we want to spend to how much screens we will get, everything. All the producers are my friends, If I want to start the film from tomorrow I can but in Bollywood, nothing is in my hand. So whatever offers I am getting, I find myself in those offers and do it.”
When asked if he wants to have the same control in Bollywood as he has in Punjab and he replies, “I thought this film's trailer could be funnier, But I didn’t have a control on it. See, I don’t understand the business here. I don’t know how Hindi audiences think, so I let them take the call who has knowledge. I have done lots of work in Punjab, so I can take a call there but here, I can’t. I still have a long way”.
Diljit who made it big in Bollywood was asked if he feels Punjabis are getting more powerful with their roles and he says, “Abhi itna toh nahi hai, there is still a long way to go. Earlier, I used to not fit in films but slowly things are changing. There was no turban hero and I started this. I was told I wasn’t made for films, I shouldn’t do films, only music is good for me, because I had turban, but slowly people started accepted, they used to think that sardars are not so cool."
When asked that this change is because of him and he humbly said, “What changes I can bring alone? But one thing is for sure, Sardars are known to be a jovial personality, comedy bhi karna pasand hai, but I will never let myself or my Punjabi people become a joke.”
Right now, every actor is here to give his best, be it Ranveer Singh, Rajkummar Rao, Ayushmann Khurrana or the new comers like Vicky Kaushal. The competition everyday is getting tougher and tougher, when asked about the sane and he had a very zen like answer, “Now I haven’t done much work, I will see where my journey goes. Let’s see.”
Talking about his love for cinema, Diljit says, “I used to love watching Amitabh sir and Dharmendra films. Jab bachche hote hai tab action hi achcha lagta hai, later when you grow up, you start understanding what the content is, what the hero is trying to say, then I started liking Rajesh Khanna sir, Mehmood saab, Pran sir, then Govinda became my favourite.”
He even added, “I used to love Rajendra Kumar films because most of his films used to be shot in hill stations We couldn’t afford to go to hill stations, so I used to feel that I am in a hill station whenever I watched his films.”
Lastly, when asked if he is interested in doing web series, Diljit happily said, “I was offered, but I couldn’t do, the timing didn’t suit, if timing suits I will do it”.?
Indeed, Diljit is here to stay.?