Q: There have been some allegations leveled upon you for opening a salon. Being a Sikh, do you think it is okay to operate such a businesses?
A: The first thing is Dinesh Sood is my friend from college. Orane is his business and it is not a salon, it is an institute. He has been running it since 2009. Being a celebrity and an actor, he requested me to come for the inauguration. Since I have been in the news recently, they asked me to do the inauguration. Dinesh Sood and I have multiple businesses together, but we also do other things independently. However in this particular business, I am not working with Dinesh Sood.
Q: Even though you do not own the Institute, we feel that it doesn’t look good for a Gursikh to inaugurate such places as it sets a wrong example.
A: What you are saying is correct. I understand that it doesn’t look good because of my present look. Had I gone in my previous look, it wouldn’t have been an issue. But tell me if I have made a mistake by keeping my kesh? The photo you are looking at, I was that kind of person before Sadda Haq. I was clean shaven. I had the thought of making Sadda Haq for a long time; that this message should be relayed. The Sikh community went through a great struggle; I personally lost my own brother. This was despite the fact that I was clean shaven and far away from Sikhi.
When Sant Jarnail Singh came to the forefront, who knows how many clean shaven and drug addicts he inspired. Sant Ji brought those people back into Sikhi. Should we have kicked those people out because they were apostate?
Our religion teaches us that even if a person makes a mistake, we still share love with them. Our hearts should be so open that even if someone makes several mistakes, we still recognize their qualities and appreciate them.
I feel I have only accomplished one thing that is worthwhile and given something to society. In Sadda Haq, two Hindu brothers invested 50% into the movie, while myself and a friend of mine invested 25% each.
But you are right; it doesn’t look good in my present look to do these things. But a person takes time to change from within. In the past I was clean shaven and used to commit even the cardinal sins. It takes time for one to become pure from inside out. Secondly, I want to mention that I had only kept kesh for the movie. However afterwards, a lot of people from my industry, my friends and other well-wishers, told me that since now I am a superstar, I will be getting a lot of other opportunities so I should return to my previous look. They told me that If I remain in my Sardar look, I will not get any other movies and that was very true.
I was offered a Hindu movie “Cactus” directed by Sachin Saluja. When I read the script, I decided that it doesn’t go with my Sadda Haq image and plus it had vulgarity so I decided against it. Gurdeep Dhillon, a Vancouver based producer also offered me a movie named “Jatt James Bond” when I was in Vancouver. What I am trying to say is that because of my saroop, I suffered monetary losses but I still continued to maintain it. I did it because after Sadda Haq I received a lot of respect and regard from the audience. I saw that the youth started admiring me, many kept kesh and started wearing dastars. I thought that if I cut my kesh now, it will send the wrong message, so I decided to maintain my identity.
Q: How do you feel about the movement started by Bhai Gurbaksh Singh?
The entire Sikh community supports the cause of Bhai Gurbaksh Singh and I also stand with it. As a humble Sikh, I have gone to visit him twice.
Q: What role do you feel foreign based Sikhs can play in this movement?
Foreign Sikhs definitely provide their monetary support to anyone doing good work. Secondly, I feel an important role that foreign Sikhs should play is by raising awareness. Just recently this past month, a demonstration was held outside the United Nations headquarters. They should try to convince other people abroad that Sikhs are facing injustice in India. This is a big task and for any change, support from the foreign Sikh community is needed. However at the same time, we also need the support of human rights organizations such as Amnesty and UN.
Q: It was good to see you work together with Dinesh Sood, a Hindu, on the Sadda Haq movie project. What is the response of Hindus to Bhai Gurbaksh Singh’s movement?
The Hindu community is mostly quiet, only a handful people like DGP Shashi Kant are raising their voice and we should definitely encourage them. I personally think that whatever work Shashi Kant is doing is commendable. However, many of our people are pointing fingers at him and calling him an agent. If anyone has any proof of anything against Shashi Kant, they should share it publicly. It is very wrong of our community to make statements on Facebook and discourage him.
Our community happens to have many people who are communal-minded. We should not be like that. The Gurus taught us to treat everyone equally. If Sikhs started hating Hindus or others, then we cannot be called Sikhs. Sikhs should have open hearts and even if the majority of Hindus do not support us, we should still encourage whoever stands with us. This will help others to also rise up. People like Shashi Kant, Dinesh Sood and AR Darshi who wrote a book on Sant Jarnail Singh Ji should be highlighted.
Q: Tell us about your future projects or if you are working on any other projects like the Sadda Haq movie.
A: Sadda Haq was my dream project and I worked on it for several years. I thank Guru Sahib for making it a success. My next dream is to make a movie on the 1984 Operation Bluestar and the legend of Sant Jarnail Singh Ji. I don’t mind if someone else works on this but it’s my dream to see it happen. I have approached Hollywood producers and shared my concept with them. I even shared the story but so far there has not been any other development on it. If Guru Sahib does kirpa, we will definitely work on it.
Besides that, we are working on a different movie titled “Yodha”. Yodha film focuses on the Sikh identity and explains what a Gursikh is. After watching this movie, our community will once again appreciate our efforts. There are many misconceptions about Sikhs by people living abroad and even in India. People even make jokes at Sikhs’ expense. This is a unique story and at this time I cannot share too many details since the work is still in progress. The same team from Sadda Haq is working on this project.
I am trying to raise awareness of Sikhi even though I am personally not a good Sikh myself. But like I said earlier, the seed of Sikhi is present and our community needs to help foster it.