The fall and rise of Haryanvi cinema
Of late, the Hindi film industry has started turning to Haryana in its pursuit for fresh stories, characters and locale. Hence, the state is slowly being able to develop an image for itself away from the shadows of dishonour killing, crime and caste system.
However, barring a few Bollywood movies, cinematic portrayal of Haryana and its culture have few takers, even in its own hinterland. “People in Haryana are not interested in watching Haryanvi movies. Cinema, as an industry, is looked down upon. It has always been seen as a corrupting influence,” Satyawan Malik, associate professor of English at Government College, Jind, said, adding that this deep-rooted belief is why the industry lacks investment and interest.
But the state cabinet’s approval to the Haryana film policy on September 5, which gave filmmaking the status of an industry, could soon change this mindset and with it, the fortunes of many. The Haryana film policy incentivises and subsidizes making of Haryanvi movies. Filmmakers firmly believe the policy will breathe new life into the dying industry, which, though not popular, has produced some acclaimed films that have done well at the box office as well.
The Haryanvi movie industry began its journey in 1968 with ‘Dharti’, followed by ‘Harphool Singh Jat Julani’ in 1970, ‘Beera Shera’ in 1973 and ‘Bahurani’ in 1982. But none of these movies did well at the box office.
“It was only around the mid-1980s that the Haryanvi movie industry started to come into its own,” Haryanvi actor and songwriter Rajkumar Dhankhar said, talking about the release of ‘Chandrawal’ in 1984.
Made with a budget of ₹2.5lakh, the movie was screened across the country and raked in ₹5 crore at the box office. The tragic intercaste love affair between a Jat man and a woman from the Gadia Lohar community, it broke box office records and ran successfully not only in Haryana, but also in Delhi, Punjab, UP and Rajasthan.
Before ‘Chandrawal’, many movies would get shot but would not make it to the screen due to lack of funds. “As a youngster, I remember watching a movie titled ‘Ghoonghat ki Fatkar’ getting shot near my village in Jhajjar. I waited for the movie to get released so I could see it in a theatre, but it never did,” Dhankhar said. He added that many filmmakers of that time had to sell off land to arrange funds for making movies.
Dushyant, assistant professor of acting at the State Institute of Film and Television in Rohtak, said one of the reasons behind the stunted growth of Haryanvi cinema was the exclusion of women. “Historically, in Haryana, women weren’t considered major contributors to art or folk culture. Instead of women taking part, men would dress up as women and impersonate them,” he said, adding that this gender bias made sure art forms in the state did not get developed.
After ‘Chandrawal’, quite a few movies did well and raised social issues, but none of them could match its success. One of the reasons for this, Dhankhar said, was that owners of single-screen theatres in the state preferred giving slots to Hindi movies over regional movies.
“Theatre owners wanted profits, which the regional filmmakers could not guarantee,” he said.
The new film policy plans to address this issue of Haryanavi movies getting sidetracked by Hindi cinema because of profitability by allocating 50% of its budget to make Haryanavi films and mooting award shows. The policy also plans to increase number of film theatres, especially single-screens more popular in semi-urban and rural areas, by 35%, and making it mandatory to screen Haryanavi films. The policy also aims to promote gender equality and women’s active participation.
Those invested in Haryanvi cinema believe the way forward for the industry is to address social issues through films. “There’s an entire generation that is experimenting with new ideas and taking up social issues in their movies. Students are pitching fresher ideas. They are making in-house films that tackle issues of honour killing and such,” said Dushyant. He said Haryana is still changing socially, and that its cinema will soon catch up.