Review of Punjabi Film, Channo Kamli Yaar Di, starring Neeru Bajwa and Binnu Dhillon. The film is directed by Pankaj Batra.
Star cast: Neeru Bajwa, Binnu Dhillon, Rana Ranbir, Karamjit Anmol, Baninderjit Singh, Anita Devgun
Director: Pankaj Batra
Producer: Neeru Bajwa, Harry Singh Jawandha
Music: Jatinder Shah
Censor Details: U/A Drama (122 minutes)
Synopsis: Pankaj Batra’s Channo Kamli Yaar Di an emotional journey of Chanpreet Kaur-Channo (Neeru Bajwa) who is a simple girl next door in an interior village of Punjab and is 6-7 months pregnant. Jeet, her husband hasn’t contacted her from Canada in the last 4 months. She seeks the help of Taaji (Binnu Dhillon) in finding her husband. Taaji loves Channo but she doesn’t know about it. When Channo asks him to come to Canada with her to find her husband, he sells his ancestral land in order to arrange the money for their trip to Canada. What happens when Channo reaches Canada. Does she find Jeet? Does she accept Taaji’s unconditional love? Is Jeet in some sort of trouble? To get the answers to all the questions you need to watch at a theatre new you, Channo Kamli Yaar Di.
Review: Pankaj Batra who last made Dildaariyan starring Jassie Gill is back again with his next film, Channo Kamli Yaar Di. Coming to the writing part, Naresh Kathoorias’ smart and gripping screenplay is the backbone of this film. The narrative goes back and forth very smoothly in a very interesting manner. Naresh who is known more for his comedies (Best of Luck, Carry On Jatta) has taken a complete U-turn from the comedy genre and he excels here as well. Gripping screenplay has been backed by good dialogues and intense storyline.
Pankaj Batra does a great job here. He has kept things simple and smooth in the film. While the first half of the film shows promise and sets up the pace of the film, the second half of the film backs up the momentum created in the first half. There are some edgy and nervous moments created in the film. The moments are simple, but the director with his intelligence makes those into big ones.
Coming to the performances, Neeru Bajwa delivers an astounding performance. Given the fact that she was genuinely 6-7 months pregnant during the making of the film, it would’ve been difficult for her to perform but she does her part with ease. This shows her quality as the leading lady of Punjabi Cinema. She should now do films, which are more women-centric. She can’t just be doing any random chic-flicks now. Binnu Dhillon, whom we have seen doing comedy for the last ‘I don’t know how many years’ completely transforms himself as the ‘One-Sided’ lover of Channo and delivers a powerful punch of a performance.
Rest of the supporting cast, that includes Karamjit Anmol, Rana Ranbir, Anita Devgun, Baninderjit Singh Bunny and many other local actors from Canada provide good support to the film. The point I wanted to make here is that Anita Devgun and Rana Ranbir’s characters were cut short as soon as the story went to Canada. And also there’s a surprise on who’s playing Jeet in the film. Do check that out.
Coming to the music of the film. The album has just 5 songs and all are included in the film. Jatinder Shah has composed the music of the film and has done an all right job. The album has very big names attached to it – Gurdas Maan, Amrinder Gill, Jassie Gill, Prabh Gil, Nooran Sisters and Jatinder Shah. My personal favourites from the album are the Title Track and Tere Bagair by Amrinder Gill.
Vineet Malhotra’s cinematography is top notch. A few of the shots were brilliant executed. Especially the one where Taaji comes home to his Bebe to tell the good news. Manish More’s editing is spot on. Also mentioning about the locations, this film has been shot in British Columbia, Canada. Most of the Punjabi films shot there are shot around Vancouver and not in Vancouver because it is pretty expensive to shoot in that city. But this film has been shot on the best of locations in Van City and Victoria.
Any Flaws? Yes, there are always a few. Here it is just that you cannot question the logic. Whatever’s happening is happening. Just sit back and watch the film.
Overall, Channo Kamli Yaar Di is a fine effort done by Pankaj Batra’s team. Its good to see that the 1st film of 2016 is a good one which wasn’t the case in the last 2-3 years. Do watch out for this one in Cinemas near you.
