DOGRA HERALD BUREAU
JAMMU, Dec 15
With two overwhelming shows of ‘Gulab Gatha’ at Government SPMR college of commerce, Natrang completes 20 shows of the current series of shows which it initiated with the support of Maharaja Gulab Singh Memorial Trust. Today’s shows were hosted by the Government SPMR College of commerce for the students and staff. Dr. Surinder Kumar Principal of the college was the chief guest on the occasion who thanked Natrang, Maharaja Gulab Singh Memorial Trust and Balwant Thakur for giving college students a rare opportunity to learn about their rich past. Earlier welcoming the august gatheringthe writer and director of the film Balwant Thakur dwelt in detail about the making of the film ‘Gulab Gatha’ and shared both the aesthetic and technical aspects of the entire process of ‘Gulab Gatha’ film production. For him it was not just like any other feature or documentary film but a big mission of exposing generations about the sacrifices and the contributions of Dogras in the creating the largest princely state of India. On the occasion he thanked Dr. Karan Singh, Chairman of Maharaja Gulab Singh Memorial Trust for giving him this life-time opportunity to produce and direct this film. ‘Gulab Gatha is a production of Maharaja Gulab Singh Memorial Trust and Natrang Jammu. Narrating further he shared that he travelled places and it took him and his team of scholars, creative people, designers, and actors over three years on research and the mobilisation of resources in creating this master-piece ever produced in Jammu & Kashmir. This is a must-see film for one and all. Natrang is currently showcasing a series of fifty shows all over Jammu province.
The film ‘Gulab Gatha’ is about the journey of a soldier who achieves great success at everything he initiated. His unquestionable obligatory obedience towards Lahore Durbar, his unconditional sacrifice and his conception of a kingdom has been regarded and given value in this. The greatness of leaders is not just in their works but in the way they have been appreciated and personified in the eyes of the people. Napoleon was a military and political hero of France and Alexander has been applauded for his greatness for his conquest. Gulab Singh as an emperor held the same qualities of being a courageous warrior. He was a normal person with no lineage of royalty but he established himself as a King with the help of his bravery and continued to keep a hold on his empire because of his well-planned strategic and diplomatic intelligence.
The most noteworthy part of the film was the dynamic acting by the local artists who simply created magic on screen with their highly professional performances. Sunil Kumar Palwal a meritorious pass out of FTII and popular TV/Film actor has done a great job in portraying different shades of the life of Maharaja Gulab Singh. The lead lady of the film is played by Gauri Thakur. The prominent amongst others who gave remarkable performances included Arvind Anand, Madan Rangeela, Sudhir Jamwal, Suresh Kumar, Janak Khajuria, Anil Tickoo, Sanjeev Gupta, Neeraj Kant, Vijay Bhat, Subash Jamwal, Sumeet Sharma, Gaurav Jamwal, Rahul Singh, Aftab Singh Chauhan, Meera Tapasvi, Aarushi Thakur Rana, Brijesh Avtaar Sharma, Lalit Kumar, Aman Sharma, Akshay Razdan, Kanav Sharma, Jatin Sharma, Brighu Sharma, Sumeet Raina, Naresh Kumar, Udit Sagar, Sushant Singh Charak, Vanshika Gupta, Sanket Bhagat, Arvin Tickoo and Shivam Sharma.
Technical crew included Maloop Singh (Technical Director) Sanjay Kumar (Cameraman), Kamal Sharma (Makeup), and Neeraj Badyal (Film Editor), Sartaj Singh (Production) Mohd Yaseen and Gaurav Jamwal (Coordination).