Actors Gul Panag and Kartar Cheema kick-started the promotion of Punjabi film Sikander at Chandigarh yesterday. Sikander is releasing worldwide on 21st June 2013.
Sikander is a contemporary film about Punjabi youth produced by Poonam Pawar and presented by Catrack. The film is also the debut Punjabi movie of Bollywood actor Gul Panag who plays the lead opposite Yaar Anmulle and Tere Naal Love Ho Geya fame actor Kartar Cheema.
In Sikander, Kartar Cheema plays the title character Sikander, a boy from Mansa who gets involved into student politics and is eventually whirled into bigger political arena. He falls in love with Beant (played by Gul Panag) but she has a different approach towards life. Eventually, Sikander becomes victim of circumstances. He becomes a leader but succumbs to the pressure and gets swallowed by the system. The character of Beant Kaur, is a strong headed girl from a small village, an anarchist who is not anti-establishment, but a progressive rebel. She is independent with a very clear idea about right and wrong. She stands by the rules she lays down for herself, come hail, rain or storm. She lives life on her own terms and challenges every conflict that comes her way. On her role in the film, Gul Panag quips, “Beant is someone who also believes that the disillusionment among youngsters is rooted in a hostile political culture, the deep irrational voids within the society and the insensitivity of educational institutions. Also in Sikander I will be seen speaking typical Malwai accent.”
Adding to it Kartar, told, “Moving away from the singer-hero formula and cutting out the romantic comedy angle, it’s the story that the audiences will relate to. It is all about all that happens at the university level — the leaders, the popularity, the herd mentality, the power struggle, the political pressures, manipulations and exploitation and the survival of the fittest. I relate a lot to this character because I was also involved in student politics during my University days at Punjabi University. Sikander will closely show the life of student leaders.
The film also stars other brilliant actors Manav Vij, Victor John, Raj Singh Jhinger and Nishawn Bhullar who all play major roles.
This film is an insider’s narrative, representing the corrupt practices and cruel politics in educational institutions which degrade these institutions. It depicts schools as making poisonous impact on society as a whole. Living in this vicious atmosphere the characters of this film are not immune to its evils. The youth is advancing in organized crime. The political structures as well as socioeconomic conditions are responsible for such violent degradation. Despite the dominant phenomena of degeneration the ray of hope is still alive among youth.
Sikander’s producer, Poonam Pawar said, “Sikander is a content driven heavy film whose script is the hero. It’s a fun film with the right mix of entertainment and social message. Besides, this film is important for anyone who is a Punjabi at heart. It also touches upon the topic of drug addiction amongst youth, a problem very rampant in the state.”
On changing the name of the movie from Sarsa to Sikander, Poonam shared, “We found that most people were interpreting Sarsa as ‘Sirsa’, so we had to explain the meaning of the title and tell them it didn’t deal with the godman of Sirsa. We decided to put a stop to all the speculation and rename it as Sikander — the name of the male lead.”
