The 1988 released hit film, Patola once again took the center stage after its mention in Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra’s Netflix presentation Amar Singh Chamkila, directed by Imtiaz Ali.
Thus, we thought of revisiting and taking a look back at the film which was one of the most popular hits of its time. Go ahead reading.
About Patola
Directed by Jagjeet Singh Choohadchak (Putt Jattan De fame), the film was produced by JP Pardesi, Rammi Pehalwan and Manjit Singh Lovely.
It had Daljit Kaur, Veerendra, Satish Kaul, Shobhini Singh, Surinder Shinda, Gauri Khurana, Mohd Sadiq, Ranjit Kaur, Manjeet Kaur Aulakh, Harbhajan Jabbal, Saroop Parinda, Pooja Lakhi, Madan Lal Rahi, Rammi Pehalwan, Mehar Mittal and Gurcharan Pohli in lead roles along with cameo appearances of star singer couple Amar Singh Chamkila and Amarjot Kaur. The special appearance of both the celebrated singers provided much needed publicity and boost to the film back then and in today’s times too, ever since Imitiaz Ali’s Amar Singh Chamkila has debuted on the OTT platform with extraordinary response.
The story of the film was written by Rajinder Rajan, while Babu Singh Maan had worked on script and screenplay.
Exclusive Interview
In an exclusive interview with GhaintPunjab, Producer Mr.J P Pardesi expressed his delight on the film stating, “With Jagjit as director with an all-time blockbuster ‘Putt Jattan De Behind’ and with an A list cast of leading Punjabi superstars, Patola was one of the hot films of that time. We had the best team to make a good film and everyone co-operated very well.”
Patola’s PRO, Editor and Assistant of the Film Mr. Tarsem Badhan recalls, “I had some great memories of Patola. While working on the film editing, I was staying at Babu Singh Maan Ji’s flat in Mumbai. I was supervising the script and continuity of the film.”
The film was directed by Jagjeet, it had actor-director Veerendra too, did he give any suggestions?
“Not at all, Veerendra Bhaaji was the director’s actor. He never interfered in Jagjeet ji’s work. When Raj Kapoor used to work under someone else’s direction, he would also never interfere in his director’s work. The same was the case with Veerendra bhaaji.
Talking about other cast members, Mr.Badhan says, “ Satish Kaul was a very professional actor. Mohd Sadiq to Surinder Shinda, Mehar Mittal Saab, they all were good friends of Babu Singh Maan.”
“I learnt one great thing from Daljit Kaur, mam at Patola set.” He further recollected the memories sharing, “A helper on the set placed the cup of a tea on the clapboard. She saw it and called him. She told him that this clapboard is their Rozi-Roti (Livelihood) and he has disrespected it by placing a cup of tea over it.”
I would visit Shobini Singh house to narrate her scenes, she was not fluent in Punjabi.
“The shoot would take place at Punjab’s village. The villagers would get overjoyed. They would say” Roti saade wallo hovegi”. The village women would look after these girls(actresses) like their own Dhee-Dhiayani(Daughters). As it is a ritual in Punjab, the village women would give them suits as gifts/shagan.”
Talking about Chamkila and Amarjot, he (Mr.Badhan) says, “The production team had to call off the shoot due to overcrowding at the location, Chamkila and Amarjot Kaur were to perform as many people from nearby villages and cities came to see them. Later, the team quietly shot the song sequence on another day.”
Mr Pardesi adds, “It feels great that the makers of Amar Singh Chamkila had used footage of Patola in their film.”
The Imtiaz Ali team did reach out to Mr.JP Pardesi for an agreement for the film’s footage, which was overlooked by him. His son (Rajiv Pardesi) says that they have no plan to take any legal action as such; in fact they are happy for the makers of Amar Singh Chamkila that their film Patola turned out to be a study material for them.
On being asked about the sudden revival and talking about Patola. He says that it feels great and some of their well-wishers are even encouraging them to follow the trend of re-using the title as a sequel as Patola-2. We have plans, but nothing has been materialized as of now.
Back in the day when Patola’s release date was announced, Chamkila and Amarjot Kaur had plans of watching the film in cinema, they wanted to take time out of their busy schedule for that. But they were gunned down before they could watch themselves on the big screen.
JP Pardesi says, “Prior to the release of the film, even they(producer team) got some threatening calls, but they went ahead and released the film. It opened to bumper opening and had celebrated silver jubilee at places,” says JP Pardesi on a concluding note.
Trivia
1.Patola was released close to Hindi films like Paap Ki Duniya, Pyar Ka Mandir, Falak, Mulzim, Shiv Shakti etc.
2.Patola was shot in and around Kotkapura and Faridkot, while some scenes were filmed in a Mumbai studio.
3.Patola was one of the first films in which Saroop Parinda appeared as a cross dresser as Chachi Atro.
4. Writer Rajinder Rajan’s daughter had acted as child artists, as did children from JP Pardesi family.
5. Other than Chamkila-Amarjot being a strong link between Patola and Imitiaz Ali’s Amar Singh Chamkila, The senior actress Manjit Kaur Aulakh is another link. In Patola she played the mother of Daljit Kaur, while in the Imtiaz Ali film she appeared in Naram Kalja song, which opened with one of her thoughtful dialogues.
6.Harinder Gill-Jagjit Singh Choohadchak’s nephew had also acted in the film, who went on to become a known director of Punjabi films.
7.Gauri Khurana-known actress of Bhojpuri films, made her debut in Punjabi film Patola opposite Surinder Shinda. Her mother had also appeared briefly in one of the sequences of the film.
8.Priti Sapru was considered for the role that was eventually played by Shobhini Singh opposite Veerendra.
