''Chann Pardesi'' is a Punjabi language film released in 1981. It was directed by Chitrarth Singh and starred

Raj Babbar Raj Babbar (born 23 June 1952) is an Indian Hindi and Punjabi film actor and politician belonging to Indian National Congress. three-time member of the Lok Sabha and a two-time member of the Upper House of the Indian Parliament. He was the Pre ...

Rama Vij Rama Vij ( hi, रमा विज, pa, ਰਮਾ ਵਿਜ) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi and Punjabi movies and TV serials. Career Vij is a well known name in Pollywood (Punjabi Cinema in India) and Bollywood. Her debut movie w ...

Amrish Puri Amrish Puri (22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005) was an Indian actor, who was one of the most notable and important figures in Indian cinema and Theatre. He acted in more than 450 films, established himself as one of the most popular actor ...

Kulbhushan Kharbanda Kulbhushan Kharbanda (born 21 October 1944) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi and Punjabi films. He is best known for his role as the antagonist Shakaal in '' Shaan'' (1980), Starting off with the Delhi-based theatre group 'Yatrik' in the 1 ...

and Om Puri. Chann Pardesi was a seminal film that debuted many future

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

legends both in front of and behind the camera, and was Raj Babbar's first ever Punjabi film. ''Chann Pardesi'' won India's National Film Award in 1980 and went on to become a big commercial success when it eventually found distribution in 1981.

Plot

Harnek Singh (a.k.a. Nek) (

) is an honest farm worker from the village who works hard for his employer, Jagirdar Joginder Singh (

). Nek is in love with the village belle, Kammo (

), and hopes to marry her after he accumulates enough money and some land. One day the Jagirdar asks his assistant, Tulsi ( Om Puri), to send Nek out of the village for a few days. Upon Nek's return home, Joginder is pleased with him and allocates six acres of land so that he can be independent and marry Kammo. A delighted Nek marries Kammo and they settle down to a harmonious married lifestyle. Soon Kammo gives birth to a son, Laali (

). It is then that their world is turned upside down when Nek finds out that the child is not his but that of Joginder, who had raped Kammo in his absence. Angered, Nek kills a man named Kanhaiya, is arrested, tried in Court, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Nek breaks off all ties with Kammo, suspecting her of infidelity. Years later, grown up Laali is in love with a beautiful girl named Channi ( Sunita Dheer), whom he wants to marry. When he tells his mother about this, she refuses to giver her permission and blessings, but instead wants him to marry another village girl Nimmo (Rajni Sharma), whom she approves of. Watch what happens when Laali discovers the reason why his mother does not approve of Channi. Laali brought the money to Jagirdar Joginder Singh for Channi's wedding as Laali considers her like a sister since they are best friends and Tulsi (Om Puri) was going to take the money away before Laali beat up Tulsi and then Joginder fires at Tulsi as his enemy and the terrible secret (of Joginder being Laali's biological father) comes out before Jagirdar goes to jail before Channi's wedding. Harnek Singh (alias Nek) return to the village during Channi's wedding and quit shooting people since Joginder was already in jail and then remain relationship with his wife Kammo and son Laali after 20 years of prison instead of separating his family.

Cast

as Kammo *

as Laali *

as Harnek/Nek *

as Jangirdar Joginder Singh * Om Puri as Tulsi *

Sushma Seth Sushma Seth (born 20 June 1936) is an Indian stage, film and television actress. She started her career in the 1950s, and was a founder member of the Delhi-based theatre group Yatrik. Her first movie was '' Junoon'' in 1978. She is known ...

as Jassi (Joginder Singh's wife) * Sunita Dheer as Channi *

Mehar Mittal Mehar Mittal (24 October 1934 – 22 October 2016)The ...

as Pappu *Rajni Sharma as Nimmo *

Sunder (actor) Sunder Singh as some of his earlier movies he's screen name given Sundar Lall he was a noted Indian film actor between the 1930s and 1980s. He acted in many Hindi and Punjabi language films in his career as hero or supporting roles as a comedi ...

as Hawaldaar

Songs

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0310865
Excerpts
1981 films Films set in Punjab, India Punjabi-language Indian films 1980s Punjabi-language films Best Punjabi Feature Film National Film Award winners