Kala Shah Kala

Kala Shah Kala is a 2019 Indian Punjabi-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Amarjit Singh. The film is produced by Naughty Men Productions and Infantry Pictures in association with Dreamityata Entertainment. It stars Binnu Dhillon, Sargun Mehta, and Jordan Sandhu, and follows the story of Lovely, a happy and charming guy who struggles to find the love of his life because of his dark complexion. It was scheduled to release on 15 March 2019, but was later preponed to 14 February 2019. It opened to positive reviews and became a commercial success, earning over ₹19 crore worldwide. It is the highest grossing Punjabi film of 2019 and the 21st highest grossing Punjabi film.

Plot
An old woman ‘Nindro Bhua’, who works as a matchmaker, is admitted to hospital for overnight recovery. She regains consciousness later that evening, she tells her nurse that she arranged her father’s marriage amongst hundreds of others. To the pleasure of a number of hospital staff, she narrates the story Pammi and Lovely (nicknamed 'Naag').

Lovely is dark complexion guy and no body is willing to marry him because of his appearance. His marriage proposals are denied everytime. While Pammi on other hand is a beautiful girl. Somehow she is also not getting married. And Nindro Bhua send a proposal for their marriage and their marriage is fixed. But Pammi is not willing to do this marriage as she loves Jaggi who lives in her village at his relatives.

After marriage to get rid Pammi started acting that she is hosted by a ghost. Lovely and his whole family started scaring of her. They also approached the superstitiouses. One day, Lovely is not affected by her acting as he's drunken and she discloses her lie and that she loves Jaggi and was forced to marry him. Lovely agreed to meet her with Jaggi. Nindro Bhua convinced them to wait till Paal’s marriage otherwise it would affect his marriage. In this time Lovely started blushing on Pammi so she didn't marry Jaggi.

In Paal’s marriage Jaggi is trying to convince all Pammi’s family members by taking care of them and doing works in marriage. Lovely’s friends asked to work work hard to keep her or he would lost her to Jaggi. And then he washing utensils, cutting vegetables and logs. In between this Pammi and Jaggi fought each other and Jaggi went away but Lovely asked them to meet again to see her happiness. And Pammi and Jaggi both decided to leave after Paal’s marriage. Next day, at railway station Lovely and his friends are heading to their village while Pammi and Jaggi are heading to Chandigarh but at last moment she denied Jaggi and came back to Lovely.

Cast

 * Binnu Dhillon as Lovely ‘Naag’
 * Sargun Mehta as Pammi
 * Jordan Sandhu as Jaggi
 * Karamjit Anmol as Hari
 * Shehnaaz Gill as Taaro
 * Harby Sangha as Jeet Barber
 * Nirmal Rishi as Nindro Bhua
 * Anita Devgan as Lovely’s mother
 * B.N. Sharma as Jora Singh, Pammi’s father
 * Gurmeet Saajan as Lovely’s father
 * Jatinder Kaur as Pammi’s grandmother
 * Gagneet Singh Makhan as Paal, Pammi’s brother

Production
Kala Shah Kala was announced after the release of Bailaras and was planned to release in 2018. When Binnu Dhillon was asked about the delaying film he said, "We are working on Kala Shah Kala. The movie is still in its pre-production phase. We are working on a good content oriented script and then we shall work on the rest. This project would go on floor in September 2018. This movie got delayed due to the reason that I wanted to learn from my past mistakes." Also he said the film is titled after his role as he is playing dark guy complexion role and "Kala Shah Kala" refers to "Purely Black" in Punjabi. Principal photography of the film began on 2 September 2018.

The film is a romedy with a social message; Dhillon in an interview said “In our society so much emphasis is put on looks, whether it’s a boy or a girl that sometimes we neglect to see what really matters in life. This is the story that a lot of people will relate to, it’s a story of an underdog. This is my first association with Zee Studios. It’s great to see that mainstream studios see value in Punjabi films now, it’s good for the growth of our industry.” Mehta added, “Our intent was to make this film in a way that it feels like a warm hug; it’s a film that celebrates love and will bring a smile on the audiences’ faces. It will reiterate that love is all about the heart and not about appearances [...]”

Casting


According to reports, the film was Punjabi debut for the Telugu and Tamil actress Kajal Aggarwal  but due to clash in filming schedules she couldn’t join the film. And the role was further offered to Sargun Mehta who would be playing lead actress opposite to Binnu Dhillon on silver screen. On August 14, 2018 it was officially reported that Jordan Sandhu will also be the part of the film. In an interview Binnu Dhillon, said that, "Casting Sargun and Jordan was also my call."

Filming
Principal photography of the film was started on 2 September, 2018 in Chandigarh where Ravi Kumar Sana served as cinematographer. The director of the film, Amarjit Singh, revealed that it will be a period movie set in rural Punjab depicting the times of 90s and it will be a complete comedy movie promising a wholesome family entertainment. In mahurat shot of the film Binnu Dhillon, Sargun Mehta, Jordan Sandhu, Karamjit Anmol and Bunty Bains were present. Second schedule of the filming took place in December 2018.

Release
Initially, at the time of announcement of the film in 2017 was planned to be released in 2018 but due to work in development the release date of the film was shifted to 15 March 2019. Later, on 19 October 2018 it was announced that the film would release on 14 February on occasion of Valentine’s Day instead of 15 March. Also, on 15 March Band Vaaje which stars Binnu Dhillon and Mandy Takhar in lead roles will release instead of Kala Shah Kala.

The first look poster of the film was released on 14 January 2019. Also, the poster got wide attention, Shariq Patel, CEO, Zee Studios said, “The Punjabi industry is flourishing, and we are happy to bring Kala Shah Kala to the audiences, broadening our presence in the regional markets. It’s a heart-warming story with a special social message, I hope the audiences like the film”. The film is distributed by Zee Studios internationally including Canada, USA, Australia, Pakistan, UK, Europe, UAE, GCC, and New Zealand. The official teaser of the film was released on 16 January 2019 while some found the teaser "racist" as a child is shown crying after watching a black guy[Lovely]. The official trailer of the film was released on 26 January 2019 at occasion of Republic Day at YouTube. It was viewed over two million times in 24 hours and trended on YouTube. The first song "Viah Te Peepniyan" sung by Ranjit Bawa, Jaggi Singh and Charanjit Channi was released on 1 February 2019 by Zee Music Company.

Reception
As of 24 February 2019, Kala Shah Kala has grossed over ₹8 crore at overseas including ₹1.27 crore at United States, ₹2.91 at Canada, ₹75 lacs at United Kingdom, ₹1.4 crore at Australia, ₹26 lacs at New Zealand and ₹1 crore at Pakistan. In its opening weekend, the film has grossed ₹7.64 crore worldwide including ₹4.1 crore in India and ₹3.54 at overseas.

Critical response
Gurlove Singh of BookMyShow praised the entire cast saying, “Binnu Dhillon is in full form when he gets roles that include loud comedy. But in Kala Shah Kala he gets to play the underdog who is a soft, subtle, and romantic boy. Sargun Mehta is the heart and soul of the movie. She delivers a top-notch performance and is perfect as Pammi. Jordan Sandhu impresses in a short but important role. Karamjit Anmol and Harby Sangha are delightful to watch. Nirmal Rishi is first-rate and Shehnaz Gill makes an impact.”