From 'Subedar Joginder Singh' to 'Nankana', Punjabi movies that promised content but failed to impress the masses in 2018

2018 has been one of the best years written in the history of Punjabi cinema. It marked the debut of a number of amazing artists and witnessed movies that broke all-time box office records. However, at the same time, the year also saw some films that initially promised great entertainment value and content, but on reaching the big screen couldn’t meet the set expectations. While biding adios to 2018, let’s have a look at the movies that failed to impress the audience this year.

‘Subedar Joginder Singh’ was a biopic based on the real life of Subedar Joginder Singh Sahnan. He was a Param Vir Chakra recipient, who fought on the border until the last breath of his life. He with a battalion of just 21 Sikh men stood against an army of around thousand Chinese soldiers in the Shino-India war.

Since it was a war drama, there was a huge cast. The titular role was essayed by Gippy Grewal. Some Punjabi singers marked their debut in the supporting cast of the movie like Jordan Sandhu, Rajvir Jawanda and Kulwinder Billa. However, neither the lead nor the supporting actors could manage to save the sinking ship. The movie couldn’t do well at the box office, as wasn’t able to hook the audience.

Another biopic that failed to impress the masses in 2018 was ‘Harjeeta’. The movie was sketched on the real-life account of Harjeet Singh Tuli, the player from Indian junior men hockey team who made the nation proud by winning the world cup in 2016.

Jagdeep Sidhu, who is known for his work in ‘Nikka Zaildar’ franchise, wrote ‘Harjeeta’, but couldn’t pen the success story of the same. Ammy Virk was seen in and as ‘Harjeeta’, and the actor underwent a huge physical transformation for the same. He broke a sweat in the gym to get the athletic physique, chiseled abs and learned hockey for the movie. However, when the movie made it to the screens, it couldn’t hold the interest of the audience.

‘Asees’ was a content-rich movie that marked the debut directorial of one of the Punjabi industry’s ace actors Rana Ranbir. The movie was based on the pure bond of a mother and son.

The film was aimed to touch hearts with the emotions it had in the content and portrayal. The story was well-knitted and even the performances of the actors were noteworthy. However, the movie couldn’t enjoy a long run at the box office.

Marking the come back of Punjabi entertainment world’s living legend Gurdas Maan, ‘Nankana’ was a period drama. The movie was one of the highly anticipated movies of 2018, owing to Gurdas Maan; however, it couldn’t meet the expectation of the audience when reached the silver screen.

From the trailer and poster looks, the Gurdas Maan starrer promised to offer a spiritual message and also hinted at bringing a father and son’s bond on the 70mm. However, the movie was, unfortunately, nothing more than a poorly written script. The film had nothing to do with the father and son bond, neither did it had any specific teaching in the center. Thus, despite having Gurdas Maan in the lead, it couldn’t get the tag of ‘hit’ at the box office.

In 2018 a lot of fresh concepts made it to Pollywood, and one of them was science fiction. Yes, this year for the first time in the history of Punjabi cinema the audience was served with a sci-fi titled ‘Raduaa’.

The movie was based on an experiment gone wrong leading to time travel. The trailer and dialogue promos of the movie hinted at a comedy packed entertainer, but the full movie couldn’t match the set expectations. Nav Bajwa who played the lead in the movie made his directorial debut with same but failed to impress the masses.