Here’s why Diljit Dosanjh scores over Aamir Khan in the Turbanator act

It’s not as if Aamir Khan made an unconvincing Sikh in Laal Singh Chaddha . But the Sikh community doesn’t like non-Sikhs playing one of them. Just like there is a growing clamour from other cultural/racial/sexual communities for one of them to play …well, one of them. The Sikhs too want a Sikh actor, not Akshay Kumar or Aamir Khan no matter how comfortable they are in a turban.

This is one of the reasons why Diljit Dosanjh in the forthcoming Netflix feature film Jogi, directed by Ali Abbas Zafar , will be an outright winner. Playing a victim of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots Diljit delivers a performance so powerful and moving, you are left wondering if there is an actual basis in the argument that actors must be culturally authentic in their characterization(for the record I don’t believe that is feasible).

When Dilijit Dosanjh entered Bollywood he knew roles for him were intrinsically restricted. “Since I am a turbaned Sardar I can only play Sardar roles. Either that or producers should be willing to alter the script to accommodate my physical appearance.”

But Diljit didn’t see this as a restriction. “It is my good fortune that I am the first Sikh to be playing lead roles in Hindi films. There was a time when turbaned heroes were considered unwelcome in movies. Now that has changed. I take great pride in being a turbaned hero. Rather than the turban being a limitation for my acting career, it is my USP. Today little kids want to tie the turban and be like me. And when Bollywood stars like Akshay Kumar don the turban I feel very happy.”

Audiences do not share Diljit’s enthusiasm for non-Sikhs playing Sardarji. Decades ago Dharmendra donned a turban in Jeevan Mrityu and many years later his son Sunny Deol played a Sikh soldier in Border. The father and son looked convincing in a turban , their intrinsic punjabiyat coming to their aid.

But pray tell, why were Saif Ali Khan and Rishi Kapoor cast as Sikhs in Imtiaz Ali ’s Love Aaj Kal? Oh I get it, Diljit Dosanjh hadn’t made his appearance on the scene back then. That explains the fake turban look for the two actors. If Imtiaz Ali tried the same trick today audiences especially in Punjab would have booed his film out of theatres.

I asked a large Sikh family which watched Laal Singh Chaddha with me why they didn’t like Aamir’s turbaned act.“Because no matter how good an actor playing a Sardarji, he always looks as if he is faking it. Only a Sikh knows how to wear the turban properly,” the Sikh gentleman explained to me.

What about Akshay Kumar in Singh Is Kiing?

“He was doing everything a Sikh is supposed to. It was like watching a convincing caricature of a Sardarji,” the real Sardarji observed.

Moral of the story: the days of faking it are behind us.

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.

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