The line between reel and real is fast blurring for Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh as he creates humour with people around him. After making some dramatic films which turned out to be comedies inadvertently, the prolific actor-director has come up with a comedy this time.
Singh’s whacky sense of humour is evident with this one-liner. “Our poster states that our film has been directed by FDD (father daughter duo).” He is referring to his comedy caper Jattu Engineer, releasing this week. “By Jattu Engineer we mean someone who is not an engineer by qualification but someone who can become one when the need arises.” He claims it has been made in a way to make people laugh but at the same time also make them understand what can be done for the betterment of rural folks.
“Comedy has been used as a tool to stop negativity and address concerns of society,” he says. About his daughter’s role, he says: “Honeypreet (daughter) has done acting but realised that she will be good behind the scenes. Message is that people should have positive outlook, be cheerful and lead tension-free lives. I have advised farmers not to be headstrong and be flexible like develop new techniques of farming to get productive yield and stop committing suicide.”
Inspiration has been taken from a nondescript village in Rajasthan to drive home his point. “Tandiya sar is a village which I have often passed by. We renamed it as Tattiya sar as people there go to loo out in the open. It was necessary to show this problem of defecation as this is a grim reality in many parts of our country. We are imparting social message through comedy to encourage people to maintain cleanliness, not to defecate in the open as it leads to diseases.”
Other social messages which he is propagating is abstaining from alcohol and drugs. “This is not limited just to Punjab but is a big problem in other States.”
In this film, Baba is in a double role to attract attention of audience. “One is a headmaster and another is a friend of youngsters. This village has a tradition of beating up the teacher. The headmaster comes riding his bike; we have kept it ordinary otherwise things would have looked odd.”
From big jazzy bikes to ordinary ones, here he seems to be underplaying himself. “ Youngsters get impressed when I drive fancy looking bikes and perform stunts. I have used a regular bike as it is in sync with the role of headmaster.”
