''Chaar Sahibzaade'' () is a 2014 Indian
Punjabi -
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
3D computer-animated historical
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
written and directed by
Harry Baweja
Harjaspal Baweja (born 1956) is an Indian film director based in Mumbai and hails from Ludhiana, Punjab, India. He is married to Indian film producer, Pammi Baweja. Their son, Harman Baweja, made his debut in the film Love Story 2050. They have ...
. It is based on the sacrifices of the sons of the 10th
Sikh guru
The Sikh gurus ( Punjabi: ਸਿੱਖ ਗੁਰੂ) are the spiritual masters of Sikhism, who established this religion over the course of about two and a half centuries, beginning in 1469. The year 1469 marks the birth of Guru Nanak, the found ...
Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh (; 22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708), born Gobind Das or Gobind Rai the tenth Sikh Guru, a spiritual master, warrior, poet and philosopher. When his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was executed by Aurangzeb, Guru Gobind Sing ...
—
Sahibzada Ajit Singh
Ajit Singh (Gurmukhi: ਅਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ; 11 February 1687 –23 December 1704), also referred to with honorifics as Sahibzada Ajit Singh or Baba Ajit Singh, was the eldest son of Guru Gobind Singh and the son of Mata Sundari. His younger ...
,
Jujhar Singh
Jujhar Singh (Gurmukhi: ਸਾਹਿਬਜ਼ਾਦਾ ਜੁਝਾਰ ਸਿੰਘ; 9 April 1691 – 22 December 1704), the second son of Gobind Singh, was born to Mata Jito at Anandpur Sahib
Anandpur Sahib, sometimes referred to simply ...
,
Zorawar Singh Zorawar Singh may refer to:
* Zorawar Singh (Dogra general), general of Raja Gulab Singh
* Zorawar Singh (Sikhism), third son of Guru Gobind Singh
* Kanwar Zorawar Singh, Indian Army general
{{Hndis, Singh, Zorawar ...
, and
Fateh Singh.
Om Puri provided the film's narration, and the voice artists for various characters were kept anonymous. It was also the
highest grossing Punjabi film when it was released. It was surpassed by Carry on Jatta 2 in July 2018.
Produced by
Pammi Baweja
Pammi Baweja also known as Paramjeet Baweja is an Indian film producer based in Mumbai, India. She is the wife of the Indian film director Harry Baweja. Harman Baweja, her son, debuted in the Love Story 2050.
Selected filmography
External ...
under the banner Baweja Movies, the film was released on 6 November 2014 to positive reviews from critics and audiences, and the movie emerged as a major box office success, eventually becoming the highest grossing animated movie ever to have been produced in India.
[
]
Synopsis
The film starts with invasions of India by the Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
. Guru Tegh Bahadur
Guru Tegh Bahadur ( Punjabi: ਗੁਰੂ ਤੇਗ਼ ਬਹਾਦਰ (Gurmukhi); ; 1 April 1621 – 11 November 1675) was the ninth of ten Gurus who founded the Sikh religion and the leader of Sikhs from 1665 until his beheading in 1675 ...
(the ninth Guru of Sikhdom) sacrificed his life for the rights and freedom of religion of the Kashmiri pandits. Following this, Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh (; 22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708), born Gobind Das or Gobind Rai the tenth Sikh Guru, a spiritual master, warrior, poet and philosopher. When his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was executed by Aurangzeb, Guru Gobind Sing ...
founded the Khalsa
Khalsa ( pa, ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ, , ) refers to both a community that considers Sikhism as its faith,[Kha ...]
to counter the invading forces with martyrdom as the fundamental principle of defence. The film depicts the Battle of Anandpur (1700)
The Battle of Anandpur was fought at Anandpur, between the armies of the Sikh Guru Gobind Singh and the Mughal forces aided by the Nawab of Bahawalpur state, Rajas of the Sivalik Hills. Cause
The increasing power of Guru Gobind Singh, and his ...
in which the Mughal General Painde Khan was slain by Guru Gobind Singh. The film also depicts the Battle of Chamkaur
The Battle of Chamkaur, also known as Battle of Chamkaur Sahib, was a battle fought between the Khalsa, led by Guru Gobind Singh, and the coalition forces of the Mughals led by Wazir Khan and of Hindu hill chief. Guru Gobind Singh makes a ...
which took place in December, 1704 CE in which forty two Sikhs (under Guru Gobind Singh) fought bravely against ten lakh
A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ex ...
Mughal forces under the command of Wazir Khan. In the battle of Chamkaur
The Battle of Chamkaur, also known as Battle of Chamkaur Sahib, was a battle fought between the Khalsa, led by Guru Gobind Singh, and the coalition forces of the Mughals led by Wazir Khan and of Hindu hill chief. Guru Gobind Singh makes a ...
, both the elder sons of Guru Gobind Singh Sahibzada Ajit Singh
Ajit Singh (Gurmukhi: ਅਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ; 11 February 1687 –23 December 1704), also referred to with honorifics as Sahibzada Ajit Singh or Baba Ajit Singh, was the eldest son of Guru Gobind Singh and the son of Mata Sundari. His younger ...
and Sahibzada Jujhar Singh
Jujhar Singh (Gurmukhi: ਸਾਹਿਬਜ਼ਾਦਾ ਜੁਝਾਰ ਸਿੰਘ; 9 April 1691 – 22 December 1704), the second son of Gobind Singh, was born to Mata Jito at Anandpur Sahib. This event is now celebrated on April 9 each y ...
were martyred in combat. The Mughals were composed of large numbers, yet ultimately failed to capture Guru Gobind Singh, culminating in their defeat. The younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh, Sahibzada Zorawar Singh
Zorawar Singh (17 November 1696 – 5 or 6 December 1705, pa, ਸਾਹਿਬਜ਼ਾਦਾ ਜ਼ੋਰਾਵਰ ਸਿੰਘ), alternatively spelt as Jorawar Singh, was a son of Guru Gobind Singh who was executed in the court of Wazir Khan, t ...
and Sahibzada Fateh Singh
Sahib or Saheb (; ) is an Arabic title meaning 'companion'. It was historically used for the first caliph Abu Bakr in the Quran. The title is still applied to the caliph by Sunni Muslims.
As a loanword, ''Sahib'' has passed into several langua ...
, were taken to Wazir Khan's palace and were executed by the Mughal ruler of Sirhind. Wazir Khan gave orders that the masons immure
Immurement (from the Latin , "in" and , "wall"; literally "walling in"), also called immuration or live entombment, is a form of imprisonment, usually until death, in which a person is sealed within an enclosed space without exits. This includes i ...
both sons into a section of the city's wall.
Cast
* Om Puri as the Narrator
* Harman Baweja
Harman Baweja (born 13 November 1980) is an Indian actor and producer. He has starred in films like ''Love Story 2050'' (2008), '' What's Your Raashee?'' (2009) and '' It's My Life'' (2020).
Early life
Baweja was born to a film director Harry ...
Production
Pammi Baweja produced the film under the banner of Baweja movies. The Bollywood actor Harman Baweja
Harman Baweja (born 13 November 1980) is an Indian actor and producer. He has starred in films like ''Love Story 2050'' (2008), '' What's Your Raashee?'' (2009) and '' It's My Life'' (2020).
Early life
Baweja was born to a film director Harry ...
is the creative producer of the film and Harry Baweja directed the film. The production took nearly five years. Harry Bajwa spent two years doing research for the project. He met the "Dharam Parchar Committee" of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee ( SGPC; "Supreme Gurdwara Management Committee") is an organization in India responsible for the management of Gurdwaras, Sikh places of worship in states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and the unio ...
and discussed his project. It is prohibited in Sikhism to depict Sikh Gurus in an animated form and their still images were used in this film. The voice artists for other characters were kept anonymous. The film was produced in Punjabi and Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
and also dubbed in American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...
. Animation work for the movie was handled by iREALTIES and the film trailer was launched in Mumbai.
Music
The main title tracks are sung by Sukhwinder Singh, whilst other tracks are sung by many other various artists. "Sochte Hue Guru Aaram Karti
Hui Foujon Mein Aye" is a narration poem by Om Puri. This track is dialogue of the movie but was chosen to be added into the soundtrack. Most music director's were kept anonymous. The soundtrack was released through
the Saga Music label
Reception
Critical reception
The film received mostly positive reviews from critics for its story, animation and in-depth research. Jasmine Singh of ''The Tribune ''The Tribune'' or ''Tribune'' is the name of various newspapers:
United States Daily California
*''Oakland Tribune''
* ''The Tribune'' (San Luis Obispo)
*'' San Gabriel Valley Tribune''
Indiana
*''Kokomo Tribune''
*'' Peru Tribune''
* ''The Trib ...
'' gave the movie 4.5 stars out of 5. He praised its story, calling it a realistic portrayal and commending the delivery of dialogue and narration by Puri. He regarded the animation quality highly especially as it was the first 3D animated Punjabi film. Shubha Shetty Saha of ''Mid-Day
''Mid-Day'' (stylised as mid-day) is a morning daily Indian compact newspaper owned by Jagran Prakashan Limited. Editions in various languages were published in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Pune. In 2011, the Delhi and Bangalore editions were ...
'' gave the film 3 stars and acclaimed the story for its sincerity but criticized the animation for its apparent lack of flexibility and expressions on the faces of characters. Jesse Brar of PunjabiReviews.com also positively reviewed the story. He complimented the film's pacing and called it realistic by showing younger sons more like children and not morally objectified. He also approved of the film for keeping the story historical and "saving itself from becoming religious propaganda." Renuka Vyavahare of ''The Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...
'' gave the film 3.5 stars. She enjoyed the film overall and recommended it for children to show them real Indian heroes.
Box office
In India, the film earned 3.5–4 crore in the first week. In the United States, the film earned and in the UK. In total it earned at the international box office across its opening weekend.
DVD/Blu-ray Release
It is available on the DVD format and was never released on Blu-Ray.
Sequel
A sequel titled ''Chaar Sahibzaade: Rise of Banda Singh Bahadur'' was released on 11 November 2016.
See also
* Punjabi cinema
Punjabi cinema, sometimes metonymously referred to as Pollywood or Punjwood is the Punjabi-language film industry centered around the Indian state of Punjab, and based in Amritsar and Mohali.
The cinema of Punjab has its beginnings with the ...
* List of indian animated feature films
This is list of Indian animated films. It includes theatrical films, some important short films, direct-to-video releases and International films in which Indian production houses and studios were involved.
Notable short films
Feature films
...
References
External links
*
{{Harry Baweja
2014 films
Punjabi-language Indian films
Films shot in India
History of Sikhism
Indian historical drama films
Indian animated films
Films set in Punjab, India
Films scored by Jaidev Kumar
Films scored by Anand Raj Anand
Films scored by Harry Baweja
Indian 3D films
2014 3D films
Films set in the 18th century
Films directed by Harry Baweja
Films about Sikhism
Indian computer-animated films
Films set in the Mughal Empire
Cultural depictions of Indian monarchs
Cultural depictions of Sikh gurus
Memorials to Guru Gobind Singh