Chandrawal star looks back in bitterness
The film policy comes at a time when the neighbouring state of Punjab was churning out hit movies one after the other, while the once robust Haryana film industry struggles to exist.
4 min read
Usha Sharma at her residence in Panchkula on Friday. (Express photo by Jaipal Singh)
ON A day when Haryana unveiled its first policy to promote film production in the state, Usha Sharma, star of blockbuster Haryanvi movie, Chandrawal, recalls with irony how “government interference” caused a movie of hers to be taken off cinemas across the state in 1991. The film policy comes at a time when the neighbouring state of Punjab was churning out hit movies one after the other, while the once robust Haryana film industry struggles to exist.
“My fifth movie, Jaatni, released in 1991, was removed from various theatres under pressure from the then ruling state government. The theme of the movie revolved around highlighting the high-handedness of politicians in power,” says Usha reluctant to name the political party even after 27 years. She says she was invited to the new film policy ceremony in Gurgaon on Friday but chose not to go because the invitation mentioned her just as an “artist”.
Sitting in her modest home in Sector 7, Panchkula, surrounded by mementos of her movie days and photographs from her 1984 hit film, Chandrawal, Usha hopes the fate of Haryanvi movies will improve with a film policy in place. Chandrawal is said to be the most successful Haryanvi movie till date commercially. As per available records, 32 Haryanvi movies have been made since 1970. Harfull Singh Jaat Julani was the first Haryanvi movie released in 1970.
While the state government has gathered a galaxy of Mumbai-based movie directors and actors with a Haryana background for the event in Gurgaon Friday, Usha does not have good memories of successful Haryanvis in Bollywood. “In the late 1980s when I, along with my director husband, Devi Shankar Prabhakar, approached the film industry people based in Mumbai, seeking their assistance financially and technically, we did not receive any encouraging response. We did not get any response even from those people who are today being portrayed as natives of Haryana and who are well established in the Mumbai film industry for a long time,” she says with a tinge of bitterness.
According to her, Haryana filmmakers have suffered from a lack of commercial resources and complete freedom for displaying artistic skills.“Haryana has everything – rich heritage, culture and talent – which are necessary elements for any state to develop its own film culture. But what we lack is the commercial resources in the shape of committed distributors and producers,” she says.
The sequel to Chandrawal, named Chandrawal-2, directed by her son, Nishant Prabhakar, failed to make waves in 2012. The original movie, which was directed by her husband, made silver jubilee in Haryana, UP and Rajasthan.
Mumbai-based Ashwini Chaudhry, who directed the award-winning film, Laado, in 1991, echoes Usha’s sentiments when he says that a free hand should be given to filmmakers. Welcoming the film policy, Ashwini says the government should take precaution that there is not a glut of movies to encash the new policy. “The aim should be to make good movies which attract the audience once more and not to make 50 films a year,” he said.
Ashwini points out that it is not that audience interest has waned only for Haryanvi films. “Look at Bhojpuri cinema. It has lost out to the Hindi movie industry. Haryana has everything, location, talent, etc. but we do not have any infrastructure like Film City. I hope the new policy will address this issue,” he says.
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