MEET SUPER SINGH
Punjabi singer-turned-actor Diljit Dosanjh stars in Sikh superhero movie,
Any baptized Sikh could be considered a superhero, in a manner of speaking. Although it goes against the whole secret-identity bit, an observant Sikh is meant to be visible in a crowd so that anyone in need can ask for assistance. A Sikh superhero movie called Super
Singh makes total sense, then, and who better to play the lead than popular Punjabi singer-turned-actor Diljit Dosanjh.
Super Singh, which opened Friday in the GTA and debuted at No. 1 last weekend at the Indian box office, is billed as Punjabi cinema’s first superhero film and is partially set in Canada. It’s about a Montrealer from Punjab whose life changes after he gets superhuman abilities, but unlike in, say, Batman v Superman, viewers are told to expect romance . . . and fun.
In one scene, a Punjabi lady gets mugged on her way out of the grocery store and Super Singh shows up. “She asks him, ‘Who are you?’ And he says, ‘You are my auntie, why would anyone else get you?’ ” said Dosanjh, in town last month for the Toronto leg of his Dream Tour concerts, after performing in Abbotsford, B.C., Edmonton and Winnipeg. “There’s Dark Knight. Man of Steel.
Deadpool. We should have a Punjabi superhero, too.”
An avid fan of Hollywood superhero films as well as Nagraj and Doga (comic books by Indian publisher Raj Comics), Dosanjh — who’s known for lounging around in hockey jerseys and, during his visit, was presented with a Maple Leafs version emblazoned with “Super Singh 1984” — couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play Super Singh. He credits social media with the idea. After the release of his third movie,
Jatt and Juliet, which was set in Vancouver, “a troll created an image of my head pasted on top of Superman’s body,” said Dosanjh, speaking in Punjabi. “Everybody was laughing. I decided that day: Laugh as much as you want, I will become a superhero one day.” Instead of the Hollywood format,
Super Singh follows the Bollywood tradition of passing through all genres; comedy, action, drama and romance are all in the mix, with Sonam Bajwa playing the love interest.
Dosanjh says that in his concerts, he strives to offer visual effects and pyrotechnics comparable to Drake and Beyoncé shows, reckoning that his audience sees those acts, too. But he said money is a trickier issue with the film: it took a year and half to find financing for Super Singh, with producers reluctant to take a chance on a Punjabi movie — even one that doesn’t try to match the blockbusters.
“Dark movies like The Dark Knight require a big budget. We didn’t have that budget. But we have tried to give similar effects, with good action, good VFX. Where we could save money, we did. We tried to make up the difference with (funny) dialogue. We didn’t add too much comedy because we didn’t want the movie to be a joke,” Dosanjh said.
“The actual Super Singh story is way more dark. That’s not this film. We will make a film on that subject another day.”
Even so, many credit Dosanjh with helping to change the image of a Sikh man in contemporary Indian popular culture. Indian jokes featuring Sikhs as the punchline abound and Bollywood movies often feature bumbling Sikh sidekick characters.
In Hindi movies such as Udta Punjab and Phillauri, Dosanjh has played strong supporting roles and has been lauded for giving depth to the complex characters. Although he acknowledges the role of entertainment in changing perceptions, he points to real-life Sikh role models such as Canada’s defence minister, Harjit Singh Sajjan.
“Forget everything else, just look at his personality. The way he stands. Can you imagine that the defence of Canada is in the hands of a sardar (Sikh man)?” Dosanjh said.
“I’m not the real deal. Someone told me to do (the EdgeWalk) on CN Tower and I said no. I’m just a film superhero.”