Sardaar Ji is a 2015 Indian Punjabi fantasy horror comedy film directed by Rohit Jugraj, and starring Diljit Dosanjh, Mandy Takhar and Neeru Bajwa in lead roles. The trailer of the film was released on 18 May 2015. Sardaar Ji is one of the first fantasy films to be made in Punjabi cinema. It was released on 26 June 2015, and had the biggest opening ever for a Punjabi film in India .
Contents
Plot
Jaggi (Diljit Dosanjh) is tasked with driving away a ghost (Neeru Bajwa) who haunts a mansion in London. However hilarious situations ensue when he falls in love with the ghost.
Cast
Diljit Dosanjh as Jaggi, the ghost hunter from Samrala
Neeru Bajwa as Pinky, the spirit
Mandy Takhar as Jasmine Kaur
Jaswinder Bhalla as Armeek Singh a.k.a. Master
Amritpal Chotu as Joondi, Jaggi's friend
Ali Kazmi as Bilal Choudary
Anita Kailey as Ruksana Bibi, Bilal's fiancée
Damanpreet Singh as young Jaggi
Avy Randhawa as Jaggi's Guide Angel
Sunita Dhir as Pinky's Mother
Jas Heer as Jasmine's Mother
Bhavkhandan Singh Rakhra as Jasmine's father
Darren Andrichuk as ghost Hunter from Discovery Channel
Jessica Singh as Ghost
Punam Randhawa as Mrs. Sharma
Natasha Sharma as News Reporter
Baljinder Darapuri as villager
Sonam Bajwa Special Appearance in Veervaar song
Soundtrack
Reception
Box office
The movie had a record opening in the history of Punjabi Cinema, it opened to 100% occupancies and shattered previous openings record of Jatt & Juliet 2. It collected ₹2.5 crore (US$260,000) on its first day in Punjab while Jatt & Juliet 2 earned ₹1.5 crore (US$160,000) on its opening day. Sardaar Ji also earned ₹14.45 crore (US$1.5 million) in its opening weekend recovering its making costs of ₹11 crore (US$1.1 million). Sardaar Ji beat Bollywood film ABCD 2 at overseas box office and topped the international collection chart.
In its first running week Sardaar Ji collected over ₹28 crore (US$2.9 million), highest ever in Punjabi cinema. It was the first Punjabi movie (Chaar Sahibzaade has total collection of ₹72 crore (US$7.5 million) as that movie was released in English, Hindi and Punjabi languages) to cross ₹30 crore (US$3.1 million) mark worldwide.
Critical response
CNN-IBN, Hindustan Times & The Tribune gave positive reviews to the movie. Film was also reviewed by British media like The Guardian.
Sequel
A Sequel, entitled Sardaar Ji 2, directed by Rohit Jugraj, written by Dheeraj Rattan and produced by White Hill Production, was released on 24 June 2016. Diljit Dosanjh, Monica Gill and Sonam Bajwa starring as main leads.
Telugu remake
Telugu Filmmaker Vasu Manthena acquired the rights of Sardaar Ji, to produce it in Telugu cinema.
Television viewership record
In December 2015, Sardaar Ji broke UK TV ratings records by delivering the biggest ever audience for a channel as it registered a huge 54,900 viewers, peaking at 90,000 viewers.