Punjabi movies in 2018: Punjabi Mania presents before you a glimpse of all that happened and did not happen in the Punjabi film industry this year.

There is no escaping the fact that the Punjabi film industry has grown leaps and bounds this year. Few would argue about the same citing erratic monetary reasons as the rationale, but it gives the impression of being a case of long-term investment which will get results across departments in the bigger picture.

The year 2018 took some time to get going for only seven movies had released in the first three months. Once April arrived, it came with a flurry of releases, with a movie scheduled for almost every Friday. The fact that the next nine months saw the release of 41 movies in itself clears the air regarding the industry taking noteworthy steps.

Let us break down the journey of the Punjabi film industry this year in four parts – each one of which depicts a key observation from what filmmakers have made as well as what the audiences have liked in 2018.

Punjabi movies in 2018 at a glance

1) Novel subjects – There is no looking away from the fact that the year 2018 once again proved that content ‘Comedy is King’ in Punjab. Having said that, in what will go down as the highlight of the year will be the certitude that writers, directors and producers displayed the audacity to make movies outside of the comic space.

While some of those projects didn’t do as well as the makers would liked or expected, the fact that they reached the celluloid is in itself an accomplishment. In which can also be known as the year of biopics, it saw the same being made on a war (Sajjan Singh Rangroot), hockey (Harjeeta) and a drug addict-turned-journalist (Dakuaan Da Munda). While ‘Golak Bugni Bank Te Batua‘ wasn’t a biopic, it was surely derived from a real incident which stunned the country a couple of years ago.

2) Groundbreaking numbers – While the moneymaking side of the film business might not have clicked explicitly for a majority of movies, there were a few who were successful in accumulating both critical and commercial success. Out of the 48 movies which got released this year, only around 10 of them are supposed to reached the break even point.

Smeep Kang, who directed the joint-highest number of movies (3) this year, made sure that each one of his movie becomes a profitable entity for his producers. Kang’s commercial success also saw ‘Carry On Jatta 2‘ breaking all-time records in the Punjabi industry.

Produced under the reputable banner of White Hill Studios and debutants A&A Advisors, the movie started with a bang, topping the list of Highest Gross Earning on the first day for a Punjabi film in East Punjab. The stellar opening day was followed by the film completing 50 days in cinema halls and ending up becoming a feast for the producers.

‘Qismat’, Jagdeep Sidhu‘s directorial debut, ended up becoming the second-highest grosser of the year. The film was an epitome of the fact that an outright love story can also bring in the finances, provided it is made in the most honest manner without adding uncalled for sequences in it.

3) Experiment with restricted promotional activities yields fruits – In Amberdeep Singh‘s ‘Ashke‘ and Mandeep Benipal’s ‘Dakuaan Da Munda’, the Punjabi industry witnessed a couple of successful movies which received outright success in reaching their audiences despite their varying journeys.

Starting with the second case, the teaser and trailer of the movie were released more than couple of months and a month before the release of the movie respectively. In which was a case of selected marketing, the makers refrained from excessive publicity on conventional mediums such as TV, radio or newspaper.

In which ended up becoming a masterstroke, solely concentrating on Dev Kharoud’s plentiful fans on the web worked wonder for the movie. From creating a historic havoc at the box-office on Day 1 to becoming the highest-earner pan-India, Dakuaan Da Munda relished the strategy of picking their horse for courses.

On the other hand, the makers of Ashke released the trailer of the movie less than 12 hours before the first show in the cinema halls in India. No promotion whatsoever had made even the biggest Amrinder Gill fan to worry about the movie. That being said, it was Rhythm Boyz‘s belief in both their project and audiences, which turned the tables for the movie post a below average first day.

With both the experimental ventures yielding desired results for the makers, it spoke highly of the fact that good movies will end up standing tall at the box-office both with/without promotions.

4) Clashes – In which was a first ever for the Punjabi film industry, it saw as many as eight instances when two movies had released on the same day in 2018. While some of the clashes happened due to the pre-announcement of the other movie, the other happened due to circumstances.

Be as it may, these clashes were just a trailer of what is going to happen in 2019. Given the amount of movies which have been announced, one expects the number of clashes (8) clashes which happened (in 2018) easily being surpassed despite some people being in defiance of it.

On this note, here is expecting for the Punjabi film industry to receive progression at a headlong rate in the upcoming year.