Sikhs let me down, says Mangal

CHANDIGARH, Jan 5: quot;One battle is over and now the next one comes, the post-production hassles.8221; Fighting it out is Mangal Dhillon, the TV celeb, and his pet project quot;Khalsa8221;, the docu-drama on the life of Guru Gobind Singh. The shooting over, Mangal was back in the city to collect the paintings, numbering around 60, from artist Devinder Singh. During a chat with the city8217;s press corps, Mangal expressed gratitude for the help extended to him by both the government and the SGPC, but said quot;the biggest let down has been the Sikh community. They give bhashans8217; of co-operation but back out in moments of need8221;.

He said quot;Khalsa8221; would be premiered at Anandpur Sahib on Baisakhi next year. quot;Since the Punjab government is expecting around 40-50 lakh of people, I will have to conduct it on a massive scale, with 15-20 projectors. Professional equipment will have to be brought from Bombay8221;. Mangal has approached the Jalandhar Doordarshan as well as the national network for a simultaneous screening of the docu in serial format. quot;The Punjabi and Hindi versions will be ready by March 31 and the English version will take some time.8221; Mangal is the writer, researcher, producer, director, commentator and editor and says quot;if I were not all these, I would have collapsed by now due to financial constraints8221;.

Mangal has even mortgaged his office for the project, that will be a blend of silent documentary and theatrical elements with shabads8217; in between. Even for the financing done by the Punjab government amounting to Rs 30 lakhs, Mangal had to provide bank guarantee. quot;It was for the first time that a creative project like this got money on bank guarantee. They did not even have a performa for this.8221; But Khalsa8217; has potential in it to make Mangal forget the troubles and bask in the glory of being the only one who made a valid contribution in the tercentenary year of Sikhism.