Angrej
Angrej is a 2015 Indian Punjabi-language historical romance film directed by Simerjit Singh. Set against the backdrop of the waning British Raj, the film chronicles the love story of a young man and a woman, played by Amrinder Gill and Sargun Mehta respectively, belonging to different social strata. Angrej has Aditi Sharma, Ammy Virk, Binnu Dhillon, Anita Devgan, Sardar Sohi, and Nirmal Rishi in supporting roles; it marked the feature film debut for Mehta and Virk.
Conceived as a romantic comedy set in the pre-partitioned Punjab, Angrej
Angrej was released theatrically on 31 July 2015; it received a positive response from film critics and audience alike. The performances of the cast, the production design, and the humour were chiefly praised. Commercially, Angrej grossed a total of around ₹307 million in its theatrical run and became one of the highest-grossing Punjabi films of all time. It was nominated for 22 awards at the 2015 PTC Punjabi Film Awards, winning ten including the Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress.
Plot
Angrej, an older adult from India, arrives at his pre-partition home in Pakistan, where he meets the current residents. When asked about his time in Pakistan, he tells them of his life in the pre-partitioned India.In 1945, a young farmer Angrej and his friend Aslam, visit a mela in a nearby village. Angrej meets Maado at the mela. She reciprocates his feelings. He proposes marriage to Maado, but she is reluctant as her family would not approve of a love marriage, neither would Angrej's. He tells his mother of his intentions to marry Maado. Angrej's mother disapproves of love in general, but his sister-in-law agrees to arrange for the marriage.
Later, when Angrej goes to inform Maado of the impending marriage proposal, Maado's father catches him. Before her father could do anything, a snake bites him, and he loses his ability to speak as a result of partial paralysis. Haakam, a rich landlord from Lahore and a distant relative of Maado's grandmother, begins to visit Maado's house and flirts with Maado frequently. Angrej sells his buffalo in order to buy gold bangle for Maado. However, she tells him that her family disapproves of his financial condition. She gives in to the advances made by Haakam, who brings her various gifts. Angrej is heartbroken when he witnesses a secret meeting between the two; Hakkam had brought a wood-cased radio for Maado from Lahore, much to her amusement.
Angrej's family is invited to his cousin's wedding, where he meets Dhann Kaur, his cousin's friend and the daughter of a wealthy aristocrat. The two develop a friendship over the course of the next few days. Maado and her family are also present at the wedding. Kaur helps Angrej in getting back with Maado, but is herself attracted to him. Haakam arrives at the wedding with the groom's baraat; that night, he makes a pass at many women, including Kaur. Angrej rebukes him, and the two engage in a fight but are later pacified by Maado's father. Hakkam continues to flirt with women and is caught by Maado the following day when Angrej makes her aware of it. Angrej consoles her, and the two rekindle their romance. The wedding concludes on the day of the vidai, and the guests begin to return home — angrej bids farewell to Kaur, who is smitten by him by this point.
Angrej begins to dress like a landlord and visits Maado. Impressed by his new appearance, Maado proposes him for marriage. Angrej realises that he does not love Maado any more but instead wants to be with Kaur, who loves him. He gifts the bangle to Maado and takes his leave. He reaches Dhann Kaur's village only to find out that she got engaged. He leaves heartbroken.
A few days later Aslam informs him that Dhann Kaur's fiancé is Haakam. Angrej then pleads his case to Kaur's father, who is enraged by his indecency and impudence. He threatens to shoot an undeterred Angrej as Kaur watches helplessly. Maado's father, who has recovered from his paralysis, intervenes and vouches for Angrej. He is able to convince Kaur's father to agree to the wedding, much to the delight of the couple.
In the present day, Angrej scatters Kaur's ashes in the open fields around their old home as per her last wishes.
Cast
- Amrinder Gill as Angrej 'Geja'
- Sargun Mehta as Dhann Kaur
- Aditi Sharma as Maado
- Ammy Virk as Haakam
- Binnu Dhillon as Aslam
- Sardar Sohi as Baghel Singh, Maado's grandfather
- Nirmal Rishi as Maado's grandmother
- Anita Devgan as Geja's Mother
- Nisha Bano as Maado's friend
- Hobby Dhaliwal as Gajjan Singh
- Gurmeet Saajan as Angrej's fuffad
Production
Development
and Amberdeep Singh began working on Angrej immediately after the completion of their previous production, the 2014 comedy film Goreyan Nu Daffa Karo. Singh wrote the screenplay and dialogue for the film; he said that idea of an Indian wedding in the pre-partitioned Punjab is what inspired him to write the script. He wanted the film to represent "the culture, the food, the joy" for the contemporary audience. Gill, who also starred in the film described it as a love story set in rural Punjab of 1945, one that "silently introduces the traditional Punjabi culture and lifestyle" and is "packed with high doses of comedy". Simerjit Singh was later hired to direct the film. In an interview with the Punjab News Express, he said that the film's title, Angrej, which roughly translates to "Englishman" was used by the people of British Punjab to label someone whose "thoughts were ahead of their times".Gill said that it was a challenging task to find the right actresses to play Maado and Dhan Kaur. Aditi Sharma and debutante Sargun Mehta, who according to Gill suited the characters "unbelievably well", were eventually cast in the roles after a lengthy auditioning process and multiple screen tests. Sharma said that she always wanted to work in a Punjabi film and was attracted to Angrejs script and its "old world charm". Mehta, who made her feature film debut was offered the role by Amberdeep Singh. The duo had previously worked together on the reality show Comedy Circus. Comedian Binnu Dhillon, Punjabi singer Ammy Virk, Anita Devgan, Sardar Sohi, and Nirmal Rishi play supporting roles in the films. Virk said that he was keen on doing the film as the role of Hakkam resembled him in real life. To prepare for their respective roles, the cast met various people who had been residents of Punjab in the 1940s; Gill also read books and watched documentaries about Punjabi culture and the use of language.
Filming and post-production
for Angrej took place in rural Punjab and Rajasthan; Navneet Misser served as the film's cinematographer. The scenes of the village locale were shot at Suratgarh, a remote town close to the border of the two states as the production team wanted to "depict life sans electric poles, mobile towers and modern-day lifestyle". Production designer Raashid Rangrez said that the producers chose Rajasthan over Punjab as the semi-arid terrain of the region was better representative of Punjab prior to the green revolution; he added that for an "authentic 1945 setup, we had to be connected with earthy look". He paid particular attention to landscaping, with the production team constructing their own sets on the various shooting locations. The cast and crew had also collected such property as period utensils prior to commencement of filming.Costumes, which included Punjabi wedding attire, were made of khadi handloom fabric. The cloth was brought from Banaras, Bikaner, and Jalandhar. Rangrez and his team of designers, which included Manmeet Bindra, used white cloth for creating the costumes and dyed them later: "emotions matter more and emotions are connected deeply with colors. So wanted to create colors on our own". Filming for the production was done in a single schedule that lasted for around 40 days. Angrej was edited by Omkarnath Bhakri and its final cut ran for a total of 136 minutes. The film was produced by Aman Khatkar Productions and Arsara Films in collaboration with Dara Productions, J Studios, and Rhythm Boyz Entertainment. The international distribution rights for the project were acquired by the London-based production and distribution house, Filmonix.