With three releases in quick succession, actor Yashpal Sharma is on a roll. If November saw the release of Panchlait based on the work of renowned Hindi litterateur Phanishwar Nath ‘Renu’, his latest offerings are an erotic thriller Game Over that released on December 8 and a comic thriller Journey of Bhangover that is out on December 15.
Unlike Panchlait, his other two releases are run-of-the-mill commercial fares, and coincidentally, he is playing a cop in both the films. “In Game Over, a con woman played by Gurleen Chopra gets entangled and trapped in her own tricky game. And I am the one who ends it all,” he says with a grin.
His next release, Journey of Bhangover, revolves around a group of five friends, whose bhang hangover after a wild party lands them into trouble. “My role is comical in a way. More than my official duty, I am on my wife’s duty. She keeps nagging me for something or the other. The couple’s banter lends a fun element to my role in Bhangover,” he says. Singer Sapna Chaudhary’s song in Bhangover has already set the music charts on fire.
Regretting the fact that the work of renowned authors fails to inspire filmmakers, Sharma says, “Renu’s short story Maare Gaye Gulfam was adapted into Raj Kapoor-Waheeda Rahman-starrer Teesri Kasam
way back in 1966. It took 51 years for another beautiful story penned by him to come alive on the big screen. Hindi literature is not getting its due, and it is unfortunate. In small measures, cinema can do its bit, and Panchlait was an effort in the same direction.”
Calling it a simple film, and an honest, brave and endearing attempt, he says, “I was honoured to be a part of this project. The team of writers and directors never tried to commercialise the concept, and that’s what made it a memorable role.” In Panchlait, he played a village sarpanch, who is innocent and straightforward, and has a pretty wife who is the centre of attention of the village. “The story revolves around the villagers whose life takes a turn for good after the arrival of a petromax lamp in their village. It was a role that I loved,” he says.
Apart from mainstream Hindi films, Sharma is busy giving a new lease of life to Haryanavi cinema. “We are relentlessly working on reviving our regional language cinema,” he adds. Talking about his pet project, the four-day third Haryana International Film Festival that is on at Hisar till December 10, he says, “Rahul Dholakia, Hemant Pandey, Satish Kaushik and many others will be present. The festival will screen feature films, short films, an animation movie and a documentary.”