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Journalism of Courage
After doing live coverage of UK riots from August 8 to 11,Upinder Randhawa, the show presenter and producer of Sangat TV,has become a star not only for UK residents but also also for Punjabi film directors. Randhawa has his hands full with offers for Punjabi movies and already his debut movie Mirza has been released. Randhawa is in Punjab these days to meet his friends and relatives.
It needs to be mentioned that Randhawa was the only one who had live footage of the UK riots which was taken by BBC,Sky news,CNN and many other international channels. On Sunday evening,he was invited by H S Kukreja,the director of Yellow Chillies Restaurant at his eating joint over dinner. In an informal chat,Randhawa said,I had signed Mirza in June itself while the riots occurred in August. So it had nothing to do with that episode. But now I am doing a movie Desi Munde and two more movies are also in pipeline.
In Desi Munde,Randhawa is playing the role of an NRI staying in London who helps out Indians who get trapped because of travel agents. No doubt after the riots I have earned more name and fame and people recognise me whenever I visit markets in the UK or elsewhere, said Randhawa. But I did my duty as a human being and I give the entire credit to my godfather,Baba Kashmira Singh.
Randhawa had left India at a young age for Australia to complete his schooling and higher studies. In the year 2005 he worked in Delhi for a short period and later went to the UK where,after a few jobs,he finally became the producer of a Sikh community channel,Sangat TV.
Randhawa,who is very fluent in the Punjabi language,said,It is really disheartening to see that in Punjab people are not comfortable in speaking their mother tongue and they often speak in Hindi or English with their kids. I would like to present this issue in one of my movies.
Randhawa also plans to produce a Punjabi movie in future and stated that he will do everything possible to help the rich talent of Punjab,if they approach him.
He added that drinking alcohol and eating non-vegetarian food has become part of the brand image of Punjabis,which needs to be wiped away. He is also working with a Jalandhar-based NGO on the issue of female foeticide.
Randhawas parents stay at Noormahal and they have not yet shifted to the UK with him. They love Punjab. So I keep on visiting them, he informed.
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