Sajjan Singh Rangroot

Sajjan Singh Rangroot is a 2018 Indian Punjabi-language war drama film directed by Pankaj Batra. It stars Diljit Dosanjh, Yograj Singh and Sunanda Sharma. The movie is based on a true story about the experiences of Sikh soldiers of the British Indian Army fighting on the Western Front during World War I. The movie was released on 23 March 2018 to coincide with the death anniversary of Bhagat Singh.[2] On release, film got positive reviews from both critics and audience. The movie is expected to be dubbed into Hindi by Cinekorn Entertainment and English.[3] Sajjan Singh Rangroot is eighth highest grossing Punjabi film of all time and third highest-grossing film of 2018.[4][5]

Sajjan Singh Rangroot
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Pankaj Batra
Produced by	Jay Sahni Sona Sahni Bobby Bajaj
Written by	Gurpreet Singh Palheri[1]
Screenplay by	Pankaj Batra Gurpreet Singh Palheri Gulshan Singh
Starring	Diljit Dosanjh Jagjeet Sandhu Yograj Singh Sunanda Sharma Jagjeet Sandhu
Music by	Jatinder Shah
Edited by	Manish More
Production company	Vivid Art House
Release date	23 March 2018
Country	India
Language	Punjabi

On 22 June 2018, Sajjan Singh Rangroot's exclusive internet rights was acquired by SHAREit[6]

Plot

In the present, many Sikh volunteers come to the Syria-Iraq border to help out refugees. An elderly Sikh volunteer tells his volunteers (especially a curious girl) about Sajjan Singh Rangroot, a soldier who fought in World War I.

In the early 20th century, Sajjan was a young Sikh man who disliked the British. Sajjan's father worked for the British. Sajjan's father wanted Sajjan to work for the British as well. As World War 1 was going on, Sajjan wanted to be a soldier for the British Indian army. He hoped that if the British won, India would gain independence. His father disliked the idea, but his mother was not against it. So Sajjan joins the army after an emotional farewell from his family. He becomes friends with many other soldiers like Dheera, Teja, Lacchman Das and Mela Singh. Teja was an arrogant person and Mela Singh was a person who lied a lot to get attention. Him lying leads to hilarious reactions. The Subedar (Leader) of the group was Zorawar Singh who has fought many wars before. After rigorous training, the group reach Britain to fight. The group were the Lahore Regiment.

When the regiment reach Britain, many British soldiers make fun of the Sikhs. The soldiers train even more. At a tea shop Sajjan and one British soldier try to have a fight, but the owner of the shop who is called Becky stops them as she does not want the tables and chairs to break. Sajjan then leaves the soldier alone. Becky then starts to like Sajjan. Sajjan finds out but he is betrothed to someone called Jeeti.

The Sikhs and British find out that the Germans have invaded many British trenches. So the British and Sikhs have to get to a trench before the Germans attack. This is as the trench will protect them. During that, the Germans attack. However, the Sikhs and British get the trench and later capture the main German trench line, forcing the Germans to retreat. But Dheera dies during that. Sajjan becomes really disturbed but Zorawar makes Sajjan better. The Germans find out that Sikhs are helping the British in war. So, the Germans send them a letter. The letter says that the Sikhs should join the Germans as they will get better equipment, food and more salary. Sajjan refuses as Sikhs should not be traitors.

After a month of staying in the trenches, Mela Singh tells Sajjan that it is Baisakhi. But the Baisakhi is a sad one. So Sajjan tries to make everyone happy by singing a song. After, the Germans attack the trench and the Sikhs and the British escape. The Germans take over the trench. Teja dies during that. So Sajjan decides go in the battlefield alone and bomb the trench. Sajjan is successful and all Germans in the trench die. However, Sajjan dies as well.

In India, the British and the people pay their respects to Sajjan. In the present, the elderly Sikh volunteer shows the curious girl a photo of Zorawar (the volunteers grandfather) and Sajjan. The Sikh volunteers now feel motivated to be like Sajjan Singh Rangroot.

Cast

• Diljit Dosanjh as Sep. Sajjan Singh
• Yograj Singh as Sub. Zorawar Singh
• Darren Tassell Sgt. Mark Campbell
• Sunanda Sharma as Jeeti Kaur
• Jagjeet Sandhu as Teja Singh
• Dheeraj Kumar as Dheera Singh
• Gunjyot Singh as Lachhman Daas
• Jarnail Singh as Mela Singh
• Mahabir Bhullar as Khalsa Aid
• Ravi Singh as CEO Khalsa Aid
• Alex Reece as Jack
• Peter Irving as Col. George Smith
• Caroline Wilde as Becky
• Jaswant Daman as Jeeti's mother

Production

Faversham Market in Kent was used in multiple scenes of the film, in which WWI soldiers are seen marching through the town.[7]

Soundtrack

All the songs of the soundtrack album were composed by Jatinder Shah. The song Pyaas was composed by Uttam Singh.

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Roti"	Rav Hanjra	Diljit Dosanjh	3:22
2.	"Sajjna"	Raj Ranjodh	Diljit Dosanjh	2:41
3.	"Pyaas"	Dev Kohli	Diljit Dosanjh	4:35
4.	"Peepa"	Veet Baljit	Diljit Dosanjh	2:47
5.	"Mera Ki Mareya"	Veet Baljit	Diljit Dosanjh	2:56
6.	"Firdosya"	Raj Ranjodh	Raj Ranjodh	4:19
7.	"Anhad Anhad"	Raj Ranjodh	Raj Ranjodh	5:54
Total length:				00:25:14

Reception

Critical response

Mike McCahill of The Guardian gave three stars out of five and concluded "Batra hits most of his big emotional beats, rightly sensing there might be something stirring and striking in the sight of beturbaned warriors charging across a field in Belgium".[8] Jyoti Sharma Bawa of Hindustan Times gave two stars out of five, She said "Sajjan Singh Rangroot's main fault is that it tries to do much".[9]

References

1. "Diljit Dosanj's Sajjan Singh Rangroot depicts patriotism and the bravery of the Sikh soldiers". Mumbai Live. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
2. "Sajjan Singh Rangroot trailer: Diljit Dosanjh lays the seeds for India's freedom". Hindustan Times. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
3. "Diljit Dosanjh to dub Punjabi film ‘Sajjan Singh Rangroot’ in Hindi and English as well?". Times of India.
4. "Top Punjabi Worldwide Grossers - Rangroot Does Well - Box Office India". boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
5. "Diljit Dosanjh shares first look as a soldier from his next Punjabi movie based on World War I". Hindustan Times. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
6. "SHAREit acquires exclusive internet rights of the movie Sajjan Singh Rangroot starring Diljit Dosanjh". tvnews4u.com. 22 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
7. "Sajjan Singh Rangroot (2018) - Kent Film Office". kentfilmoffice.co.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
8. McCahill, Mike (22 March 2018). "Sajjan Singh Rangroot review – Sikh first world war drama has mud and guts". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
9. "Sajjan Singh Rangroot movie review: Diljit Dosanjh goes to war for his masters". Hindustan Times. 23 March 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2019.

External links

• Sajjan Singh Rangroot at IMDb
• Sajjan Singh Rangroot on Bollywood Hungama