Whenever we look at women’s tales, they are stories of struggle, says Jass Grewal on Bajre Da Sitta

Writer-director Jass Grewal’s Punjabi-language feature Bajre Da Sitta (2022), starring Ammy Virk and Tania, has been getting rave reviews and appreciation from audiences. The film captures the many struggles faced by two young women, Roop and Besant, in their desire to sing. The emotional journey of the sisters is a story of patriarchy, and the community around them that dictates the fate of women.

Written and directed by Grewal, the film weaves together the folk songs of Punjab and takes us back to the time of radios and gramophones.

In an exclusive interview, the director spoke about his latest release. Beginning with the inspiration for the period drama he said, “I used to listen to the Punjabi folk songs by Surinder and Parkash Kaur and I wanted to make a film that looked at the folk elements of Punjab. I was listening to the song 'Bajre Da Sitta' and I just got a feeling that there should be a film with this song and that [thought] developed into the story.”

Bajre Da Sitta review: Exquisite, emotional story about following one's dreams

The story humanizes the struggle of artists, especially women, and expands its canvas to become a film about gender and the ways in which society thwarts women’s dreams and aspirations. “When I was listening to the songs of Surinder Kaurji, I felt in my heart that at that time if a woman wished to become a singer, she would have had to struggle a lot. Although my film is not based on the story of the two sisters, it is certainly inspired by them. The incidents that take place with the characters Roop and Besant, I do not know if they [Parkash and Surinder Kaur] faced them or not. This is just my imagination of women trying to sing at that time, what hurdles would they have faced. This film is situated around 15 years after Independence and I feel that whenever we look at women’s stories, they will be stories of struggle.”

In his earlier films, especially Daana Paani (2018) and Rabb Da Radio (2017) and Rabb Da Radio 2 (2019), the filmmaker situated his stories in older times, examining the forgotten values and traditions.

“I do have a certain attachment with Punjabi culture. We have a very rich culture and if we look at culture as inheritance, it is associated with the past, with history. If we examine our culture, we will need to go into the past and I am one such person. I like listening to stories and recollections about older times. I try to bring forth the times that have gone by. This becomes doubly entertaining as while the story carries on, people also relate to the film. I derive a lot of pleasure from people relating to my films and feeling that indeed, things used to be this way in the past. The other thing is that why should we feel constrained to make films about the present times? We can make films about olden times, of earlier times. After all, stories do begin with ‘once upon a time’!

His directorial debut was with Hun Ni Murhde Yaar (2018) and was followed by Bajre Da Sitta. Although Grewal has written films in the intervening years and Rabb Da Radio 2 won the National Film Award for the Best Feature Film Punjabi for 2019, it has taken him a while to get back to the director's chair.

Contemplating this, he said, “There was COVID. That was one reason for the gap. Besides, I do not go out looking for work. If someone comes to me then I make a film. I don’t know what my next film will be. My films are a bit off-beat, so sometimes people don’t understand my story because to make people understand [the story] is one thing and to show it to them is quite another. The second thing is that producers finance a film when a mainstream hero signs on and mainstream heroes don’t really have much to do in my films. I prefer to work with new or not-so-famous actors. So due to all this, it takes a while for me to line up my films.”

However, things just organically fell into place for Bajre Da Sitta. “These things are really God willing and when things have to work out then one finds producers as well. I was working on a lot of films but no one really liked them but when I gave [the story of] Bajre Da Sitta, the producer liked it a lot and he narrated it to Ammy, who also loved it and decided to come on board. This was a sudden click.”

In the past few years, while the Punjabi film industry has grown by leaps and bounds, most of the content remains middling and good content remains largely elusive. Comedy remains the most popular genre and despite OTT platforms making inroads into regional cinema, interesting content is hard to come by.

Commenting on this, Grewal said, “It is a bit disappointing. There is very little experimentation, especially in web-series. Once a formula starts working, everyone starts following it till the time all the films flop. And at that point, people start saying that Punjabi films are rubbish. Then, if someone dares to experiment and is successful, once again, everyone goes off in that direction. There is a dearth of passion and people are largely business minded. There are, however, a few who are doing really beautiful work and perhaps it is because of them that the industry is moving along.”

The third instalment in the Rabb Da Radio franchise was recently announced by Tarsem Jassar and one wondered if Bajre Da Sitta would also find a sequel where the sisters continue their musical career. Expressing his enthusiasm for this, he said, “I would love to make the sequel. Right now, the film is in cinemas. Let it complete its theatrical run and come on the OTT [platforms]. Let’s see what people say about it and this depends on the producers. Bajre Da Sitta is their title and if they find it viable, we can think about it.”

Summing up with the response to Bajre Da Sitta, Grewal is ecstatic. “People are loving it. The appreciation is more than what I received for Daana Paani and Rabb Da Radio. The industry is loving it, people are loving it and I am very happy with the response.”