Of late, the Hindi film industry has been tapping Haryana’s social and cultural actualities. The movie ‘Dangal’, despite not being shot in Haryana, captured the inherent Haryanvi fierceness through Aamir Khan’s character of Mahavir Singh Phogat. Salman Khan’s ‘Sultan’ and its songs revolved around the Haryanvi heartland and Kangana Ranaut, in ‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns’, represented a local girl with a heavy Haryanvi diction.
But barring movies starring the Khans and other stars, Haryana, in the form of cinema has few takers, even in the Haryanvi hinterland. “People in Haryana are not interested in watching Haryanvi movies. Cinema is looked down upon in the state. It has always been seen as a ‘corrupting influence’,” said Satyawan Malik, associate professor of English at Government College, Jind, adding that this deep-rooted belief is why the industry lacks investment and interest.
Earlier this month, filmmaking was accorded the status of an industry in the state after the cabinet approved the Haryana film policy. Under the policy, incentives and subsidies will be given to filmmakers for Haryanvi movies, and filmmakers believe the move will bring life to the dying Haryanvi movie industry.
The Haryanvi movie industry began its journey in 1968 with ‘Dharti’. ‘Dharti’ was followed by ‘Harphool Singh Jat Julani’ in 1970, ‘Beera Shera’ in 1973 and ‘Bahurani’ in 1982. But neither of these movies did well at the box office.
“It was only around 1983 that the Haryanvi movie industry started to come into its own,” recalled Rajkumar Dhankhar, a Haryanvi actor and a songwriter. He said that before that, many movies would get shot but would not make it to the screen due to lack of funds. “As a youngster, I remember watching the shooting of a movie which was titled ‘Ghoonghat Ki Fatkar’ near my village in Jhajjar. I waited for the movie to get released so I could see it in a theatre, but it never did,” he said.
Dhankhar added that many filmmakers of that time had to sell off their land to arrange funds for making movies. “Most of the movie investors that time were property dealers. Being the ones with the most amount of money, they would invest in certain movies. The other option was forming a cooperative society and pooling funds,” he said.
But things changed after the 1984 movie ‘Chandrawal’, an intercaste love story of a Jat boy and a girl from the Gadia Lohar community. It broke box office records and ran successfully not only in Haryana, but also in Delhi, Punjab, UP and Rajasthan.
Dhankhar said a major reason behind the success of Chandrawal was its music. “Every song in the movie was a hit. Women would sing the songs on weddings,” he said, remembering some of the most popular songs of the movie - ‘Jija Tu Kala Mai Gori Ghani’ and ‘Gaade Aali Gajban Chhori Bahadurgarh Ka Bomb’.
‘Chandrawal’ also brought a new audience to local theatres – women. “Before the movie came out, women rarely went to watch movies in a theatre. The men wouldn’t allow them to watch any kind of cinema. ‘Chandrawal’ led to some change in the attitudes of people in Haryana,” said professor Malik.
Dushyant, assistant professor of acting at the State Institute of Film and Television (SIFTV) in Rohtak, said that one of the reasons behind the stunted growth of Haryanvi cinema was the exclusion of women. “Historically, in Haryana, women weren’t considered a major contributor to art or folk culture. Instead of women taking part, men would dress up as women and impersonate them,” he said, adding that this gender bias made sure art forms in the state don’t get developed.
After ‘Chandrawal’, a few movies did well and raised social issues, but none of them could match the former’s success. One of the reasons for this, according to Dhankhar, was that owners of single-screen theatres in the state preferred giving slots to Hindi movies than to regional movies. “Theatre owners wanted profits which the regional filmmakers could hardly guarantee. Haryanvi movies wouldn’t get a show time in the theatres,” he said.
Haryanvi movies in the recent past such as ‘Laado’ (2000) have won accolades. The 2014 movie ‘Pagdi: The Honour’ went on to win two National Film Awards. However, barring a few, Malik said, most Haryanvi movies now have similar themes, repetitive music and poor jokes. “The comedy in most recent movies is vulgar and casts aspersions on colour, caste and gender,” Malik said.
Language is also a barrier in Haryanvi movies. “People in different regions of Haryana speak different types of dialects and a movie that uses one dialect doesn’t impress speakers of the other dialects,” said Dhankhar, adding that this is why Haryanvi movies don’t do well in major cities of Haryana such as Gurugram or Faridabad where the dialect is influenced by its neighbouring Delhi. “Most of the actors are based out of Karnal, Rohtak, Jind as that is where the target audience lies,” he said.
Dhankhar added that in a year, around four to five Haryanvi movies get made, but a majority of them don’t do well. “Most filmmakers make Haryanvi movies to show their culture and promote their language while some of them are into it either to make whatever little money they can or to promote their friends and relatives by giving them major roles,” he said.
But filmmakers and actors are certain a little investment in the industry will lead to better content and more films. Satish Kaushik, Bollywood filmmaker and co-chairman of the committee that prepared the recently approved film policy for Haryana, said that now is time for Haryanvi movies to shine. “In my initial years into filmmaking, Haryanvi culture in Hindi cinema wasn’t very welcomed. Being from Haryana wasn’t a thing to be proud of,” said Kaushik, who hails from Mahendragarh district in Haryana.
Kaushik said that things have changed now due to the wider acceptance of Haryanvi songs and roles in the Hindi film industry. “Haryana as a state has also developed in the last decade or so. Tourism has increased in the state. More people are opting for higher education now. This is the best time to explore what Haryanvi movies have to offer,” he said, adding that he is certain Haryanvi cinema will do equally well as other regional cinema such as Marathi or Punjabi.
Kaushik now aims to produce at least one Haryanvi movie in a year, and his first, ‘Choriyan Choron Se Kam Nahi Hoti’, is all set to release in a couple of months. The movie addresses the issue of female foeticide and discrimination against women in the state, and features almost an all-Haryanvi cast. “This is going to be the first commercial Haryanvi movie – made for a large variety of audience,” said Mohan Kant, who plays the role of a villain in the film.
Films such as ‘Chandrawal’and ‘Pagdi: The Honour’ that were received well by a large audience were based on social issues that plagued the state, and those invested in Haryanvi cinema believe the way forward for the industry is to take up such issues in films. “Social issues with a dash of entertainment,” Kaushik revealed the formula for success in the industry.
There’s a whole generation of young people in the state who is experimenting with new ideas and taking up social issues in their movies, according to Dushyant of SIFTV.
“Students are bringing newer ideas to the table. They are making in-house films that tackle issues of honour killing and such,” he said, adding that Haryana is still going through a social change, and that Haryanvi cinema will soon catch up.
Chandrawal was made with a budget of Rs 2.5 lakh. It did a business of approximately Rs 5 crore. A Haryanvi movie is made with an average budget of Rs 5 to Rs 10 lakh. If they become popular, they earn a revenue of about Rs 40 to Rs 50 lakh.
First Published: Sep 23, 2018 01:37 IST
