The Devil’s Advocate: Laal Singh Chaddha might unwittingly further the stereotyping of Punjabis

In an interview from 2017, Punjabi pop star and actor Diljit Dosanjh said “Bollywood has a lot of stereotypes about Sardars, but I will probably never do such a role”. Dosanjh only echoed sentiments that Gurdas Maan , the man considered responsible for reviving a fledgling Punjabi cinema, had conveyed a decade ago. As truthful as these criticisms are they also a hide the hairy reality that Punjabi cinema has itself falled prey to. The industry’s last decade has been led by popular, franchise films that infantilise sardars and Punjabis in ways that seem to echo Bollywood’s imagination. That said with Laal Singh Chadha slated to hit theatres, it’s disappointing really that for a film that carries the soul of experimentation and whimsy the creators could not think beyond a Sardar to embody a larger-than-life simpleton. It points yet again, to the problems of convention but maybe also the universality of the Punjabi identity. On paper, nothing sounds inspired about Laal Singh Chadha. The film is an official remake of a divisive classic that really shouldn’t have been remade considering the original continues to divide audiences and the critics alike. Forrest Gump has over the years summoned criticism that has often pushed writers and critics to question how it won all those Oscars in the first place. The news that an official Indian remake was in the works didn’t exactly sound exhilarating. The fact that Aamir Khan would portray the Gump equivalent in this remake, though assuring maybe in terms of star wattage, isn’t exactly the kind of casting choice that’d make you leap in excitement. But of all the details that some ambitious pen put to paper, the least has been the sight of a low IQ halfwit being embodied by a sardar.

We’ve all grown up on jokes around Sikhs, the tokenisation of sardars through school and college and the snide vilification of their culture through the gambit of social jugglery. We expect Punjabis to take barbs lying down because we consider them large-hearted, or have rather forced them to be. From the age of santa and banta, the sikh identity has been commodified to fit a certain massy imagination of what Punjabis must be like: loud, crass, lovers of alcohol, foreign countries and gaudy rituals. Punjabis have been assigned the kind of portfolio that black minorities continue to be handed in the imagination of the America’s whitest thoroughbreds. People often tell me that it is okay to make sardar joke because ‘they can take it’. This idea that people who seemingly believe in living outside their bodies, through habits and interests they pursue with a certain devoutness, can take a jibe feels convenient. On the contrary, Punjabis have inherited trauma, a politically charged environment and the constant defacement of a culture that is on the inside, possibly the warm and grounded. But leave it to Bollywood’s tokenism and all Punjabis are ever good for is intoxicated outbursts, a kink for breaking the law and the lack of a particular vein that prevents them from taking life seriously. Vanity by obvious means. There have been portrayals in the past that have somewhat held back on this most predictable of narrative ledges. Ranbir Kapoor ’s Rocket Singh is an empathetic portrayal of a middle-class sardar trying to survive. Saif Ali Khan ’s Sartaj in Sacred Games is a delightfully sombre man whose lived-in reality is far removed from the loud, desi Punjabi weddings of yore. And Dosanjh’s own portrayal of a conflicted Punjabi cop in Udtaa Punjab is admirable though it exists next to similarly exaggerated notions of the Sikh identity. It’s pointless to really delve into the long list of borderline contemptuous roles but the fact that a film as big as Laal Singh Chaddha couldn’t conceive of something other than the obvious is frankly disappointing. Laal Singh Chaddha could very well be tasteful and delicately balanced but it is by design, suggestive of a deeper malaise. One can hope the eminently likeable Atul Kulkarni (writer of the film) has brought his wisdom to the piece, and there is further reassurance in the fact that the film has taken approval from the SGPC (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee). What worries me though is that in trying to create a universal grammar, Kulkarni and co might have submitted to the allure of doing what Hindi cinema has been for years - cast whimsically elusive characters as Punjabis so it makes their eccentricities inoffensive to the consumer. Because it subtly builds on an image we carry as part of our subconscious. You understand the cynical logic behind it, because nobody can really deny the ubiquity and attraction of Punjabi culture in general but you can also see that it extends a long-held notion that ought to have been discontinued by now. Especially, when other than Dosanjh, no sardar has actually managed to create a foothold in the industry. The author writes on art and culture, cinema, books, and everything in between. Views expressed are personal. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram