Even as a Punjabi film based on the lives of Indira Gandhi’s assassins ( Kaum de Heere ) is being reviewed by the Film Censor Appellate Tribunal, after the government stepped in to stall its release, as many as four films are under production in Punjab on the assassination of the late Gen A.S. Vaidya, who as Chief of Army Staff ordered Operation Bluestar in 1984 to flush out Khalistan militants from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
Slew of films on terror The films on Sukhdev Singh Sukha and Harjinder Singh Jinda (Gen. Vaidya’s killers) are among a spate of many others — some ready, others in the pipeline — on the theme of terrorism and the events of 1984 in Punjab.
While one of the films about Gen. Vaidya’s assassins is being made by Harinderpal Singh, a nephew of Jinda, the other titled Wanted Zinda is by Kuljinder Singh Sidhu, whose film Sadda Haq about why Sikh youth took to guns in the 80s and early 90s, became the biggest-ever Punjabi overseas blockbuster last year.
Mr. Sidhu exemplifies the trend towards such movies with another one titled Yodha in the pipeline.
Other movies being made on similar themes are: Leather Life , 47 to 84 , Raakhe Harmandir De , Kaun Karega Insaaf and Blood Street.
The films, some of which have hit hurdles with the censor board like Kaum de Heere or Dilli 1984, have also sparked speculation about funding from Khalistani extremist elements based abroad, particularly as some of them are being actively promoted by gurdwaras and media channels controlled by Sikh hardliners.
For instance, a gurdwara in Surrey, Canada, reportedly collected $40,000 for the promotion of Sadda Haq, which was initially banned in India in 2013. The film’s producer, Mr. Sidhu, denied this.
He admits that Sadda Haq , the stalled Kaum de Heere and Punjab 1984 , all did very well overseas because “there is a huge demand for such subjects among the Sikh filmgoers there who regard these men as heroes.”
