Punjabi movies in 2021: Punjabi cinema managed to put on display some excellent movies in an otherwise challenging year.

As was the case with all other film industries across the world, Punjabi film industry also suffered heavily due to COVID-19 this year. It was due to the same reason that only a couple of movies released in the first half of 2021.

It was in the first week of August that 'Tunka Tunka' not only released in a cinema hall but also paved a way for others to follow. Subsequently, a total of 23 Punjabi movies (including two re-releases) released in the cinema halls across 22 weeks in the second half of 2021. All in all, Punjabi fans had 25 theatrical releases in 2021.

Despite the small sample, Punjabi movies managed to cater to different audiences encompassing of small-budget movies, large-budget movies, sequels, a threequel, clashes, last-moment indefinite delays, movies starring the biggest names, movies doing well at the box-office, movies not doing well at the box-office and movies which let us down BIG TIME.

In addition to some movies which failed miserably with respect to standing tall on their potential, another dejecting point of 2021 was makers' perpetual urge of locking release dates only to not release their movies eventually. Yet to fulfill their obsession with locking dates, some Punjabi producers even changed them regularly but still failed to release their movies on time. The sad part is that this trend is expected to continue in 2022 as well.

On the contrary, the year 2021 in the Punjabi film industry will always be remembered for the foraying of Punjabi makers into streaming platforms. In what came as a monumental blessing in disguise in the absence of theatrical releases, Kenny Chhabra's 'Jinne Jamme Saare Nikamme' became the first-ever Punjabi movie to release directly on a pan-India streaming platform in ZEE5.

Having said that, even before this Dusshera release, Punjabi film industry welcomed its own streaming platform titled Chaupal. Since its advent, Chaupal has provided opportunities to direct-to-OTT releases, web-series starring leading names and also became the official streaming partner for numerous other movies which released in the cinemas.

A year which commenced without a release ended on the same note due to unforseen circumstances. In what would've been a rare scenario of two big Punjabi movies releasing in the last two weeks of a year, our wait for them will continue in 2022.

Top Punjabi movies in 2021 (ir order of release date)

Tunka Tunka

Singer Hardeep Grewal not only made his debut as a writer (screenplay and dialogues) and actor but was also brave enough to produce Tunka Tunka. Grewal, who put on display the maximum level of physical transformation for a Punjabi movie, was perhaps sure of what his team intended to make.

Hence, all their out-of-the-box efforts came to fruition as the movie was well-appreciated not just in Punjab but across the world. Not that Tunka Tunka was perfect, it did have its share of shortcomings, but the sincerity with which the whole team led by a debutant director Garry Khatrao worked for several years on this movie had successfully translated on the silver screen.

Chal Mera Putt 2

First of the two re-releases this year, Janjot Singh's 'Chal Mera Putt 2' had instantly struck a chord with the audiences upon its original release last year. Surprisingly enough, Chal Mera Putt 2 managed to struck an ever bigger chord when it had re-released after as many as 18 months in August 2021.

The best of the three parts, Chal Mera Putt 2 proved as to why producers Rhythm Boyz and Omjee Star Studios were correct in their decision of not releasing the movie on any OTT platform and waiting for an apt time to re-release it in the cinema halls.

Honsla Rakh

Diljit Dosanjh, Sonam Bajwa, Shehnaaz Kaur Gill and Shinda Grewal-starer 'Honsla Rakh' was unequivocally the biggest Punjabi movie of the year. In what was director Amarjit Singh Saron's third enjoyable movie in a row, this blockbuster still continues to be a centre of attraction upon its release on a streaming platform.

Full of comedy, style and Dosanjh's brilliance, he marked his debut as a producer with Honsla Rakh and how. A festive release in October, Honsla Rakh did exactly what festive releases are meant to do; entertain the audiences and earn crazy money.

Warning

No one other than superstar Gippy Grewal would have taken the risk of converting a web-series into a feature film. That being said, Grewal's ploy was well-planned, well-written and well-executed making 'Warning' one of the best Punjabi movies this year.

While debutant director Amar Hundal came as a breath of fresh air especially in the action genre in the Punjabi industry and actor Dheeraj Kumar registered another impressive performance, it was actor and dialogue writer Prince Kanwaljit Singh who got his much-deserved due in the Punjabi film industry with Warning. As Pamma, Prince stole the show on his own on the back of his masterly acting.

Honourable Mentions

Rupinder Chahal's Ammy Virk and Sonam Bajwa-starer 'Puaada', Prem Singh Sidhu's Jagjeet Sandhu-starer 'Please Kill Me' and Amardeep Singh Gill's 'Marjaney' are our three honourable mentions for this year.