Punjab’s theatre queen tries to get out of real-life crime drama

The doyenne of the Punjabi stage, the Panjab University professor of Indian Theatre in a fraud case? Even as the city recovered from the first shock, others followed: The case in question had been filed by a member of her troupe, accusing her of demanding Rs 12 lakh to return two passports stamped with US visas. And more: When the police finally laid their hands on the `impounded’ passports, the pages with the US visas were missing.

While the extortion charges are yet to be proved, the issue has set off a very public, high-profile slanging match between police and professor. Investigation Officer Tarsem Lal struck first, saying, “This (the missing visas) constitutes an offence.” After a night spent in jail, Rani Balbir Kaur hit back. “Hang me to death if you prove the charges”, she said in true theatrical style, eyes bulging, voice maintaining the perfect pitch. “I accept my foolishness, I should have been more careful.

“But even those who have accused me have been foolish. What have they got? The case against me will be quashed… it’s a false case.”

The case against Rani Balbir Kaur was filed by Jagjiwan Singh, a government works contractor who, along with his wife and three others, responded to the actress’s call for martial arts exponents for a Punjabi play she was to take to the US. According to the FIR, Jagjiwan Ram and his wife handed over their passports to Rani Balbir Kaur on July 17 for the US visas. After they had been procured, however, he alleged, she refused to hand them over till they paid her Rs 12 lakh.

The subsequent police raid recovered the two passports, but the US visas were missing. According to Rani Balbir, they could have been torn during the scuffle with the police. But, she reiterated, she was completely within her rights to refuse to part with the passports of her troupe members once the visas had been procured.

Brandishing an e-mail from the US embassy, she said, “I got suspicious when (all five newcomers) claimed they had to get visas for Canada and Europe as well. The US Embassy’s vice-consul Simon Hankinson had asked me to retain the passports of troupe members who had been issued visas, so I refused to give them back.”

At this point, the Patiala police stepped in to add yet another twist in the tale. SP Gurpreet Singh Gill told a press conference that he had an audio cassette that had Rani Balbir Kaur telling a prospective troupe member she would charge each of them a non-negotiable Rs 6 lakh to take them to the US. Apart from Jagjiwan Singh and his wife Inderjeet, two others from Patiala had come up with the same complaint, he said.

“I come from an affluent family”, the cornered actress said, scorning the charges. And then she changes tack. “It is very easy to malign a single lady, especially someone who will brook no nonsense. I spurned their bribes and refused to return their passports since they’re supposed to be in my custody till the end of the tour (that is why they are harassing me)”.

Rani Balbir is no stranger to colour and controversy. Daughter of one of Chandigarh’s original contractors, she studied at Panjab University and took to drama under the tutelage of Balwant Gargi. She was linked with him and is rumoured to be the subject of his book The Naked Triangle. The book caused a stir when it was published because of its many sexual references. Coincidentally, Gargi’s wife left him subsequent to its publication.

The denouement is nowhere in sight. But chances are the present controversy will only heighten Rani Balbir’s reputation for a gripping drama.