Dinesh Kamath's column Movie World 'Bollywood has a big number of Punjabi actors and singers - Jassie Gill is one of them' that was published in Newsband

Movie World

Bollywood has a big number of Punjabi actors and singers

Jassie Gill is one of them

From singers to actors and comedians, Bollywood has seen an increase in influx of young and talented Punjabi artistes over the past couple of years. Last year, singer Jassie Gill made his acting debut in Bollywood with the film "Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi". He is now gearing up for the release of another Hindi film titled "Panga", which has Kangana Ranaut in the lead. Directed by Ashwini Iyer Tiwari, "Panga" revolves around female kabaddi players and the trials they face.

Jassie has shifted from Punjabi to Hindi cinema. He is on "learning mode" right now. It is his starting stage, so he is learning a lot now. He finds Bollywood a great industry because it welcomes fresh talent with open arms. He feels great about the fact that artistes from Punjab are getting a chance to showcase their talent and he is happy that the industry is open and welcoming the new talent.

Punjabi singers and actors Ammy Virk and Harrdy Sandhu are also set to make their acting debut in Bollywood in Ranveer Singh-starrer "'83. The film, presented by Reliance Entertainment, is based on India's iconic win in the 1983 Cricket World Cup. They are currently busy training in Dharamsala for their roles. Interestingly, both Ammy and Harrdy had marked their singing debut in Bollywood before their acting stint. Ammy lent his voice to the song "Daryaa" in Anurag Kashyap's "Manmarziyaan" in 2018, while Harrdy sang "Nachna aaonda nahin" for movie "Tum Bin 2" in 2016.

Punjabi singer B Praak recently made his debut in Hindi cinema. He lent vocals to the "Teri Mitti" song for Akshay Kumar's "Kesari". The song even left made Akshay and producer Karan Johar teary-eyed. Year 2019 will also see the entry of popular Punjabi actress Sonam Bajwa in Bollywood. She is a part of Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor-starrer dance based film "Street Dancer 3D".

Punjabi gems like Diljit Dosanjh, Badshah, Guru Randhawa and Honey Singh, also have successfully carved their niche in the industry in the recent past. Singer-actor Diljit feels proud to represent his community in Hindi showbiz. In 2016, Diljit made his acting debut in Hindi cinema with Abhishek Chaubey's "Udta Punjab", and wooed the audience with his on-screen performance as well as song "Ikk kudi". He bagged a kitty of Hindi film projects like "Phillauri" and "Soorma", and he will now be seen in "Good News" and "Arjun Patiala". Some people had said that Sardars are unfit of Bollywood movies. But Diljit proved them wrong. He did not give up his turban but yet managed to be a successful actor. He is grateful to those filmmakers who vested their trust on him. Diljit became the first turbaned Sikh to get a wax statue at Madame Tussauds, proving that it's 'balle balle' all the way for Punjabis in Bollywood.

Now coming back to Jassi Gill. Jasdeep Singh Gill, better known as Jassi Gill, is an Indian singer and actor mainly associated with Punjabi music and films. Gill was born as Jasdeep Singh Gill and he hails from Jandali village near Khanna. He studied at Gobindgarh Public College where took up two practical subjects, music and physical education. He was trained to sing in local youth festivals. He bagged the second position four times consecutively. He struggled for three years before his debut and had to wash cars in Australia.

Gill made his debut in 2011 with the album Batchmate which became an instant success with the hit song "Chudiyaan". In 2012 he followed this up by releasing the single "Vigrey Sharabi". In January 2013 he released his second album Batchmate 2, which became an even bigger hit than the previous album, and included the song "Lancer" with lyrics by Narinder Batth. He followed this up with the hit song "Classmate" that featured in the movie Daddy Cool Munde Fool. In September 2013 he came out with another single, "Pyar Mera". After the successful release of his album Replay, he released the single "Nakhre" in 2017.

Gill made his acting debut on the big screen in Mr & Mrs 420. He followed this up with Dil Vil Pyar Vyar. He paired with Roshan Prince and Simran Kaur Mundi in the romantic comedy Mundeyan Ton Bachke Rahin.

Gill signed to make a film with Gauhar Khan in February 2015, titled Oh Yaara Ainvayi Ainvayi Lut Gaya, which marked her debut in Punjabi films. He also starred in Channo Kamli Yaar Di alongside Neeru Bajwa. He also starred in Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi, alongside Sonakshi Sinha, Diana Penty and Jimmy Sheirgill; this was his first Bollywood film. It was released on 24 August 2018.

As far as singing is concerned, here are his achievements. In the year 2011 he came up with a song Batchmate, 2013 - Batchmate 2,  2013 - Lancer G Guri, 2014 - Replay - The Return of Melody, 2012 - Vigre Sharabi, 2013 - "Classmate", 2013 - "Pyar Mera", 2013 - "Mangeya Ae Dil",  2014 - "Ik Saal", 2014 - "Laden" 2014, 2015 -   "Youngster Return", 2016 - "Attt Karti". 2016 - "Gabbroo", 2016  - "Anaconda", 2016 - "Laden" (Reprise Version), 2016 - "Yaar Jatt De", 2016 - "Gabbroo", 2016 -    "Bournvita", 2016 - "Snapchat", 2016 - "Fer Ohi Hoyea", 2017 - Jump 2 Bhangraaa, 2017 - M.I.L.F., 2017 - Guitar Sikhda, 2018 - Dil ton black, 2018 - Jodi Teri Meri, 2018 - Tru Talk, 2018 - Nikle Currant  Sukh-E and 2019 - Surma Kaala.

The following are the films Jassie Gill acted in: 2014 - Mr & Mrs 420, 2014 - Dil Vil Pyaar Vyaar, 2014 - Mundeyan Ton Bachke Rahin, 2015 - Oh Yaara Ainvayi Ainvayi Lut Gaya, 2015 – Dildariyaan, 2016 - Channo Kamli Yaar Di, 2017 – Sargi, 2018 - Mr & Mrs 420 Returns, 2018 - Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi, 2019 - High End Yaariyan and 2019 - Panga       

I will continue with Jassie Gill tomorrow too.