Bajre Da Sitta

Bajre Da Sitta

Two cousins, Roop and Basant, live with their parents and grandmother in a small village in Punjab in the early 1960s. Both have gifted voices and are one day spotted by Baghel Singh, a representative for the record company HMG. He headhunts them and approaches their fathers with an offer to record a single. To the family, it was not respectful in the public eye for young women to entertain outside the family home and the result was that both their fathers strongly objected. The expectation of Roop was that she would marry the man her father chose for her and maintain a household. To their grandmother, their skills in crochet, embroidery, and stitching far outweighed their singing talent. Roop's father is persuaded to allow the two girls to sign up for one song, with the conditions being that the girls names do not appear on the record, they do not leave the village, and their images are not revealed. Their first song is a success, to the extent that the villagers on the whole praise it, while unaware who sang it. Baghel Singh later reports back to the company that Mohammed Rafi heard them and dubbed them Punjab's very own nightingales. Until that single, the girls had sung around the house; whilst cooking, cleaning, and performing other household chores. During a drinks evening with friends, Roop's father promises her hand in marriage to a man who lives far away.

Release

15 Jul 2022

Run time

113 min

Language

Punjabi