[Reader-list] Celluloid and compact disks in Punjab

[daljit ami]

ANACHRONISTIC COMEDY; WHO THE AUDIENCE ARE
The film named Fauji Di Family (Soldier’s family) is claimed (on wrapper) to be a family comedy film. The film could have been a comedy on Punjabi society during fifties or sixties. This sort of comedy used to be part of All India Radio broadcasts during those times. During these times the society has been more literate and with the passage of time many words of English and Hindi have become part of Punjabi language. These reach of these words is not confined to literates as it used to be. When the literacy used to very thin any word from other language used to create confusion and laughter. With the increase of literacy, larger service sector, better means of transportation and influx of migrant labour the scenario is not same again. It is not going to be same again. The comedy that AIR used to broadcast was not only comedy but awareness also. 
The film under discussion relies on those days comedy although it is no way period film. A soldier posts a letter to his parents to send his family. The whole village is unaware of the word FAMILY and search every nook and corner of the surrounding. Similar situations are there when the soldier goes to his in-laws’ house and ask for SALAD, when he complains about the loose CHARPAI (Hindi word for cot), use of words like LATIRINE, LOOSE MOTION and PATLOON (trousers) create comedy situations. These words are everyday use in Punjab irrespective of the literacy levels. 
These words have entered in the social milieu through social practice and intra cultural interactions. Punjab has large number of migrant labour that made many words part of Punjabi language. It is beyond imagination to find an audience which is unfamiliar of these words like. The large number of English and Semi English medium school definitely add English words to the social interaction without any distinction whether you go to those schools or not. Large number of students are coming out of those schools and interacting in the society. Now marriage is no more a function which involves voluntary community labour for cooking and other arrangement. The function involves large number of cooking, serving and arrangement professionals. The vocabulary of these professionals caters to urban-rural, rich-poor and literate-illetrate masses, irrespectively. How can this society laugh at confusion crated by words like SALAD? How can these commonly used words create confusions?
This film is one of the successful ones in the market. It is really interesting to imagine the constituency of its audience. The film maker, Gurcharan Virk, claims that common people are like this and they want this. This is the logic behind most of the masala Bollywood films and music videos shown on television channels. When we look for that common person like this and wants this, search became endless. Every person talks that this is for common person. This comment is always by an outsider, be it maker or critic. From the surface this perception sounds shallow and gross underestimation of rural illiterate people. It seems that the audience of this film is choice less as rest of the means of entertainment are out of reach. This type of film shows characters which are of lower status than their own. This imagery lower status person and thoughtless vacuum created by these films makes them successful at whatever small scale they are.  The production of such films for imaginary common person sounds superiority complex of middle class which lower class share as audience as they have someone (inferior to them) even if as characters of the film.
Regards
Daljit Ami
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