Harbhajan Maan: the Transnational Migrant Success Story
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Chapter 10 Harbhajan Maan: The transnational migrant success story of Punjabi cinema Harjant S. Gill From airplane to ‘roadplane’ tone of voice. ‘This world-class luxury bus will pick you up directly from the airport arrival gate,’ The advertisement for the Indo-Canadian Bus he informs the audience. ‘As you leave the comfort Company opens with an Air Canada airliner, of your airplane, experience the comfort of this prominently displaying the red maple leaf across roadplane!’ its tail, touching down on the runway. The arrival Indo-Canadian is a privately owned bus of the airliner is followed by time-lapse shots of company operating across India’s northern state passengers exiting the gates at the New Delhi’s of Punjab that has, over the last decade, success- Indira Gandhi International airport. A long queue fully capitalized on the rapidly growing demand of cars stretches into the distance, presumably for transportation between major cities across waiting to receive the arriving passengers. Dressed Punjab to the nearest international airport, which in a pink polo shirt and denim jeans, with a blue lies 275–300 km south in the nation’s capital city cardigan draped over his shoulders, and dark of Delhi. Maan, one of the most successful singers aviator sunglasses covering his eyes, Harbhajan and actors in Punjabi cinema, also rose to prom- Maan, one of the most celebrated actors of inence over the last decade for his portrayals of Punjabi cinema, breezes past the awaiting cars diasporic and transnational Punjabi migrants. making his way towards the camera. ‘Landing at For Indo-Canadian to feature Maan as its spokes- the Delhi airport just to wait for delayed trains or person is no mere coincidence. This assemblage relatives? Leaving an airplane’s comfort to endure of the private bus service that specializes in the hustle and bustle of public transportation servicing the route that transnational Punjabi stuck in India’s notorious traffic jams?’ laments migrants take on their journeys to and from the Maan (in Punjabi). ‘For every Punjabi settled airport, with images of Maan, the poster boy of abroad, wasn’t this the primary impediment Punjabi cinema seen peddling services related to keeping them from returning home?’ Maan transnational mobility, speaks directly to the aspi- retorts as he approaches a luxury bus with the rations of middle-class Punjabi families across words ‘Indo-Canadian’ sprawled across its side. the region. For young men growing up in Punjabi ‘You no longer need to suffer in vain … Indo- countryside, many of whom regard transnational Canadian bus is here to change the game,’ Maan migration as their only path to middle-class continues, shifting from the frustrated traveller mobility and economic success, Maan represents persona into his characteristically paternalistic the embodiment of contemporary notions of 9781844578542_txt_prf.indd 137 19-08-2019 21:43:15 138 Indian Film Stars successful Punjabi masculinity; a transnational (We Are Proud of Our Nation, Manmohan Singh, migrant who can effortlessly travel across national 2004); Dil Apna Punjabi (Our Heart is Punjabi, boundaries, undergoing the various bodily trans- Manmohan Singh, 2006); Mitti Wajaan Maardi formations such movement requires, and claiming (The Soil Beckons, Manmohan Singh 2007); Mera citizenship and belonging in diaspora as well as at Pind (My Village, Manmohan Singh, 2008); Jag home in Punjab. Jeondeyan De Mele (To Meet and Celebrate While Alive, Baljit Singh Deo, 2009) and Heer Ranjha Harbhajan Maan and Punjab (Harjit Singh, 2009) (Figures 10.1, 10.2). cinema Maan’s career also remained one of the most illustrious as his films ushered a revival within Born in 1965, Harbhajan Maan started his career a fledgling cinematic industry at the turn of the as a playback-singer in the early 1980s, performing century. This revival followed nearly a decade of Punjabi folk songs and Bhangra music. He gained steady decline in the number and quality of films mainstream recognition with his 1992 song, being produced in Punjabi language, resulting ‘Chithiye, Ne Chithiye’ (Letter, Oh Letter), a pain- partly from the political and economic turmoil filled lament of a Punjabi mother writing a letter and religious insurgency the region experienced to her migrant son. Maan went on to star is nine in the late 1980s and early 1990s (Dhillon 2006; prominent Punjabi films, most of which feature Gill 2012; Singh 2006). During this time period narratives centered on transnational migration Punjab also witnessed a steady increase in emigra- and diasporic communities living across North tion from the region as many landed families, America, Europe and Australia. Compared to fearing the political instability, sent their sons his peers, Maan’s tenure as the poster boy of abroad (Chopra 2010). While the insurgency has Punjabi cinema has lasted the longest, from 2002 since ended and the region has stabilized, the to 2009. Maan’s most notable films released in trend towards transnational migration continues these eight years include: Jee Aayan Nu (Welcome, among Punjabi Sikh families. Even though the Manmohan Singh, 2002); Asa Nu Maan Watna Da inherent distrust among most Punjabi Sikhs of the Figure 10.1 Harbhajan Maan with his wife Harminder Kaur Maan at a publicity event for his 2009 film Heer Ranjha. Author (Harjant Gill) 9781844578542_txt_prf.indd 138 19-08-2019 21:43:16 Harbhajan Maan 139 Figure 10.2 Maan being interviwed on PTC Punjabi News Channel at a publicity event for his 2009 filmHeer Ranjha. Author (Harjant Gill) Indian government makes the decision to leave and diasporic communities’ relationship with their homeland easier, current migration trends the nation (Benei 2008; Singh 2012). I examine are largely economically driven. It is motivated by the performances and popularity of Maan as a the desire among landed Punjabi families across Punjabi film hero, his rise to stardom in conjunc- the state to be part of the growing middle class tion with the global circulation of Indian films and participate in the kind of consumerism only (regional as well as Hindi films) and the growth of made possible by remittances and investments a new genre of ‘NRI [Non Resident Indian] films’ of transnational capital sent back home (Chopra that celebrates the experiences of transnational 2010; Mooney 2011; Walton-Roberts 2004). migrants and member of the diasporic commu- As the cultural, economic and political shifts nities. In doing so, I explore the ways in which enabled by late twentieth and early twenty-first such circulations differ on regional levels, produc- centuries globalization has resulted in an accel- ing varying terms of engagement and meanings erated mobility of images, capital and people around notions of class, gender, citizenship and across national boundaries, providing increas- belonging. ingly greater prominence to diasporic citizens Maan’s on-screen persona and representa- within nations’ political and cultural apparatuses, tions of heroic masculinity diverge from prior the terms of these movements and participation more traditional archetypes of Punjabi and Sikh vary from region to region (Appadurai 1996; manhood popularized by the veteran actors of Clifford 1997; Benhabib and Resnik 2009; Schiller Punjabi cinema. Films released in the 1980s and et al. 1995 Singh and Thandi 1999). Given the the early 1990s celebrate the rural, landowning linguistic diversity of Indian popular culture, the upper-caste ‘Jat’ farmer, his hyper-masculine overarching narrative of migration from India that physique cultivated through manual work, and encapsulates varying experiences of transnational his unwavering commitment to his land and the migrants and diasporic citizens is often translated agrarian landscape of the region, as the pinna- and articulated within regional histories to gain a cles of his achievements (Gill 2012). Contrasting deeper sense of ethnic loyalties, regional affinities Maan’s popularity and performances against 9781844578542_txt_prf.indd 139 19-08-2019 21:43:17 140 Indian Film Stars his predecessors’, his arrival signals a shift in the socialization among diasporic communities, and notions of nationhood, belonging and the poli- they play a crucial role in the creating of imag- tics of representation within Punjabi cinema and inary homelands for diasporic subjects’ (1999: popular culture to privilege the experiences of 732). Drawing on familiar tropes of nostalgia and transnational migrants over the rural farmer, and overt paternalism directed at diasporic viewers, privileging diaspora over homeland as the site for Maan’s films equate the consumption of Punjabi cultivating cultural authenticity and influence. cinema with servitude to regional culture, priv- The settings and plotlines of Maan’s films echo ileging the region over the nation as a space to this change as focus shifts from regionally situated anchor belonging. narratives set exclusively in Punjabi villages to an Maan’s popularity within Punjab can also be increasing move into more urban, transnational credited to his role as the de facto cultural ambas- and diasporic landscapes. Above all, through sador between regional and diasporic audiences discursive practices around the concepts of of Punjabi cinema. Maan’s films serve as a window cultural authenticity and traditions encapsulated into audience interests and experiences, emblem- within the notions of ‘Punjabiyat’ (the sense of atic of greater shifts taking place in gender roles being Punjabi)1 and ‘Punjabi Sabhyachar [culture and social