KARACHI: Pakistani actor and producer Hareem Farooq has said that her new film Mango Jutt, which releases in cinemas worldwide on Oct. 16, presents a different side of Punjab and pushes back against the image long associated with the usual Punjabi film heroine.

The Punjabi-language film will open in the UK, US, UAE and Canada as well as Pakistan. Farooq stars opposite Faysal Qureshi.

Lollywood, Pakistan’s Lahore-based film industry, produced many Punjabi-language films in past decades. While some made their mark, many were not considered family entertainment.

Farooq, who is Punjabi, said she had wanted to make a Punjabi film for at least a decade, to portray Punjab in a positive light and encourage Punjabis to take pride in their culture.

“You can watch it with your family and you can let your children not be apologetic about Punjab,” Farooq told Arab News on Sunday.

Farooq was referring to a time when Punjabi movies, especially during the 1990s and early 2000s, were criticized for dance sequences that were considered provocative and unsuitable for families to watch together.

“That was something that really hit me hard, that we should not be apologizing for our language, we should not be apologizing for our identity,” she said.

The actress said there was a time when Pakistan was facing “mediocre cinema,” featuring content that could not be watched with families. She said it did affect Punjabi cinema and Pakistani cinema adversely.

“So, one of the things that was really important was to break that stereotype,” she said.

Farooq produced Mango Jutt under her banner, Hameem Films. She described it as pure entertainment, which she believes is the purpose of cinema, with romance, action, comedy and drama all at play in the film.

She plays the female lead, Noor Jehan, whom she called a “quintessential Punjabi Jutti.” Jutti refers to a woman from the Jutt community, a prominent agricultural and landowning community across Punjab.

THE PUNJABI HEROINE

Farooq described her character as a strong-headed woman with a soft heart, who has been through hardship without losing her gentleness.

“For me it was a very complex character, and it was very interesting to play with that,” she said. “Dealing with that spillover in your present, and then wanting to and being able to take that leap of faith.”

Farooq has starred in TV dramas including Bismil, Diyar-e-Dil and 22 Qadam, and has produced several films, including Janaan, Parchi and Heer Maan Ja, in which she also played the female lead.

For Mango Jutt, she had to work on her accent and fluency. Although she grew up in a Punjabi family where the language was encouraged, she was not fluent in conversation.

“I was a bit nervous, especially because I was also concerned that when this comes out, the first question people will have is whether she is able to speak in Punjabi or not,” she said. “

And when you’re acting in a particular language, you don’t want to hurt anybody’s sentiments.”

Farooq said she did not want to conform to the established image of the Punjabi heroine, though she had always been told she had a “Jutti vibe.”

“People would tell me that my body type is very Jutti, with curves and everything. I thought that was interesting until I had to portray that on the big screen,” she said. “Jutti is somebody who is all out and all there. And I wanted to really portray that comfort level they have with their bodies. That pride that they have.”

Farooq said audiences and the industry could not always be blamed for the narrow range of body types seen on screen.

“We have to show them in a good way as well. We have not shown a lot of body types yet in films,” she said.

“Yes, there are a lot of times we instantly reject that, saying this is not going to work on the screen. My question is, have you tried doing that?”

NOT RESTRICTED TO PUNJAB

A producer for the past decade, Farooq said the industry needed a collective effort to grow.

“If we are just going to be performing on an individualistic level, we will not be able to make it an industry,” she said. “It is very important for the producers to be encouraged and not make them run away. Making films is not an easy task. You really have to have a lot of grit and a lot of patience to be able to do that, and then to do it again.”

She said she was optimistic, as the state was finally backing cinema. “We’ve realized the importance of cinema, not just for entertainment but for global image. And we’re working toward that,” she said.

Her optimism likely follows a push by Punjab’s provincial government to revive the industry. In April, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif announced plans for a 50-acre Film City in Lahore, with studios, visual effects labs and a film and music school, aimed at nurturing local talent and creating jobs.

Farooq said she hoped Mango Jutt would reach anyone who could relate to the language, or to “love, comedy and entertainment.”

“Even though it’s in Punjabi language, it is not restricted to Punjab. It is for everybody. Pakistanis, Indians, Bangladeshis, everywhere across the world,” she said. “That’s my target audience.”