While Diljit Dosanjh is rather comfortable in his new found success as the romantic hero, after films like 'Mel Karade Rabba', 'Jihne Mera Dil Luteya' and now his upcoming 'Jatt & Juliet', the singer turned actor is disappointed that his attempt at serious cinema is hobbled with issues of financial funding.

Talking about his ambitious project in the pipeline, ' 1984 Punjab' Diljit says the film is ready to roll except for the fact that they can't find any producers for it. "It's very unfortunate that a film on such a sensitive topic cannot find any takers. No one is ready to fund the film so far, though Anurag Singh, (director of 'Yaar Anmulle') and I are ready with the film's script and stuff, no producer is willing to invest money into it. Everyone wants to make a masala film, and this kind of a film is a risk which no one wants to run," rues Diljit.

Though the subject touches a chord with most Punjabis, Diljit says the intended film will transcend regional barriers. "Anurag is doing a lot of research on real life cases of boys who left homes, or were made to leave homes, during that fateful year of 1984. And our film will focus of one such boy who left home but now wants to return and the kind of hurdles he faces on his journey back home," says Diljit who is very passionate about this project, "If God gave me that kind of money, I would have loved to produce this film myself."

Without romanticizing the pain in this subject, he says this would be an attempt to state facts as they were. "There is no intention of projecting images that did not exist, or distorting facts. Yet, in order to take a story on the screen forward, there has to be an added narrative, which will be there in this film too." The film also treads the fine line between commercial and art cinema. "This is in no way going to become an art film. It will be well within the precincts of commercial cinema and the audience won't take home a heavy feeling in their head," says Diljit who is also ready with two music albums, 'Back to basics' themed on Punjabi culture mixed with contemporary beats, and 'Temptation', which is an urban sound.

written by - Jaspreet Nijher (Times Of India)