Jammu, June 17: To mark the 203rd coronation day of Maharaja Gulab Singh, Natrang Tuesday screened the episode of Rajtilak from the highly acclaimed Hindi film ‘Gulab Gatha’ at its Natrang Studio Theatre for the invited audiences. Interestingly Natrang shot that episode exactly at the historic location of Jia Potha in Akhnoor to pay a befitting tribute to the occasion. Conceptualized, written and directed by Padamshree Balwant Thakur the production of this magnificent film was supported by Maharaja Gulab Singh Memorial Trust. At the very outset, Natrang Director Balwant Thakur informed that today’s screening is aimed at educating the younger generations about their rich historical past. He added that unfortunately the local history is not taught in schools and younger generations are totally aloof about their vibrant history and culture. There are many interesting and worth learning facts about the 100 years of Dogra rule and it becomes our larger responsibility to sensitize and educate the younger generations about that. “This screening of ‘Gulab Gatha’ will go a long way in achieving that” he said. It is pertinent to mention here that Dr. Karan Singh who is also the Chairman of Maharaja Gulab Singh Memorial Trust inspired Balwant Thakur to write, produce and direct this first ever film on the story of Great Dogra ruler who created the larger princely state of India. Interestingly Balwant Thakur first created a theatre play of the same name after devoting over two years in research and the collection of facts and figures.
The film ‘Gulab Gatha’ is about the journey of a soldier who achieves great success at everything he initiated. His unquestionable obligatory obedience towards Lahore Durbar, his unconditional sacrifice and his conception of a kingdom has been regarded and given value in this. The greatness of leaders is not just in their works but in the way they have been appreciated and personified in the eyes of the people. Napoleon was a military and political hero of France and Alexander has been applauded for his greatness for his conquest. Gulab Singh as an emperor held the same qualities of being a courageous warrior. He was a normal person with no lineage of royalty but he established himself as a King with the help of his bravery and continued to keep a hold on his empire because of his well-planned strategic and diplomatic intelligence. The lead role of Maharaja Gulab Singh is played by FTII’s meritorious product and Yuva Bismillah Khan Awardee Sunil Kumar Palwal who has many films and TV serials to his credit including Jolly LLB2, Mughal-e-Azam, ‘Yeh Dil Ramta Yogi’, ‘Chera-the unknown mask’, ‘Satin Sin B’s’, MTV Rush, Shapptah, Rakshak, Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke etc. Entire technical crew came from Mumbai and the film was technically coordinated by Maloop Singh, Neeraj Badyal, Mohd Yaseen and Gaurav Jamwal.
