Mohali
22 February 2020
DIVYA AZAD
Over 300 people attended the premiere of the documentary on Guru Nanak at Shivalik Public School here which was organised by Young Progressive Sikh Forum(YPSF).
This film titled ‘Guru Nanak The Founder of Sikhism Life and Legacy’ has been made with the support of National Sikh Campaign in USA. This film by Auteur Productions has received the ‘Best Director’s Award at Los Angeles’s Awareness Film Festival’ last year and it will be shown on 200 TV stations across America by the PBS channel starting this month.
Many prominent personalities from the city were present in the audience to witness this first ever documentary made in English language on the life and teachings of Guru Nanak which included Dr. Rajwant Singh(Washington D.C) who is also the Senior adviser to the National Sikh Campaign, senior IPS officer A S Rai, actor Gurpreet Ghuggi, Dr D.S. Bedi, former mayor of Chandigarh Harjinder Kaur, and the hall full of audience applauded as the film ended.
Dr. Rajwant Singh, Senior adviser to the National Sikh Campaign in his opening remarks said, “This documentary was made primarily to educate the Western audience about Guru Nanak and his message while we are celebrating His 550th anniversary. We are confident that this movie will spread awareness about Guru Nanak and present him as a world teacher.”
Dr. Rajwant Singh shared that it took 10 months to complete the documentary with the budget of $ 4,30,000 and that the filming was done at United States, Pakistan and India.
Famous Punjabi Actor Gurpreet Ghuggi congratulated the team behind the documentary and said, “I was extremely impressed by the quality of this documentary as it is at par with Hollywood standards.”. He added “The unique feature of this documentary is that many eminent world leaders from other faiths have expressed admiration for Guru Nanak and his teachings and I highly recommend that this documentary be shown at every school and college in Punjab and throughout India.”
Senior IPS officer A S Rai welcomed the audience and said, “There was a total lack of any respectable film media resource on Guru Nanak and his teachings. This documentary fills that void.”
Former Mayor Chandigarh Harjinder Kaur said, ‘’This movie will play a key role in informing the world about the significant contributions made by Guru nanak.”
President of YPSF Dr Prabhleen Singh(Adminstrative officer, Punjabi University) thanked the audience and said, “ Along with the historical information, this film very successfully depicts how Sikhs are carrying forward Guru Nanak’s legacy through social service and honest living in the United States and how his teachings are still relevant. We want to thank Auteur Productions for completing this monumental task.”
The film is now being shown in various cities in United States which includes narration by reputable religious figures such as Bishop Chane, a Christian leader and former head of the Washington National Cathedral; Rabbi David Rosen, a Jewish authority and well respected interfaith leader; Bob Thurman, a Buddhist scholar and one of Time magazine’s 50 most influential people; Dr. Saran, a Hindu scholar from Georgetown University. Also featured are well-respected authors including Ambassador Navtej Sarna, Roopinder Singh, Nikky Guninder Kaur, and Kamla Kapur.
