Made in Punjab — almost

Butt Bhatti films has become a brand name for hilarious Punjabi dubbed films.

LAHORE: When some unemployed boys of Faisalabad decided to dub a Hollywood film in Punjabi in 2002, they did it for fun and to kill time. They had no idea the experiment would pay off so well that they would have to relocate to a bigger city - Lahore to set up shop. A studio that would run only to dub English films in Punjabi.

Sajjad, Vicky and Amjad Watto took this initiative in Faislabad and when they began, there were only a handful of people who knew about Butt Bhatti films; but now it has become a brand name for hilarious Punjabi dubbed films and have a huge fan following.

The trio dubbed their first film at Rahmat Gramophone Record which still exists in Faisalabad today. Sajjad, who is considered as a pioneer in the business, says, “When we first did it, we did it as an experiment and thought it would be fun. Before we dubbed an entire film in Punjabi, some private television channels (STN) used to run clips of Hollywood films dubbed in Punjabi or Urdu” he said. In addition “Uncle Sargam’s” program also used to have a special segment of dubbing entertainment by the name of Hashar Nashar. In the same way clips from our dubbed film were first screened during the intervals of stage dramas in Faisalabad. They received an amazing response and then we began the same practice in Lahore’s commercial theatres. After this we were approached to make CDs and DVDs of the films and market them. The response was overwhelming and that’s how we started doing this regularly,”said Sajjad.

Sultan, another artiste from Faisalabad who dubs English movies in Punjabi, said, “Several artistes from Faisalabad who used to perform on stage now dub English movies. They first watch a film for two, three times and then dub it. Some people have established their own recording studios while other take them on rent and dub English films in Punjabi. This is a profitable business and sometimes you can make up to Rs 1 million from one dubbed film. There are few modes of entertainments these days and people really enjoy white-faced people doing funny things and speaking dubbed Punjabi.”

Commercial Theatre Producers Association Chairman, Chaudhary Zulfiqar said that it was in 2002-2003 when commercial theatres in Lahore started airing short clips of 10 to 15 minutes during intervals in commercial theatres. “The response was excellent and many members of the audience would request us to replay these clips. Now these films have attained their own place in our entertainment industry,” he said.  Film critic Zahid Akasi said that most of the stage artistes who dubbed these films were from Faisalabad. Explaining reasons behind it he said, “Faisalabad is a city where most of the people came from Jalandhar, India which used to be the hub for artistes before partition. Many of these artists migrated to Faisalabad after partition and their children are now a part of the theatre business. It is in their blood to entertain through humour and they are using these skills in either live performances on stage or in dubbing Hollywood films in Punjabi.”

Hafiz Imran, a DVD shop owner at Lahore’s famous DVD market at Hall Road, said, “Butt Bhatti films are in great demand. Hundreds of such dubbed films have come into market since 2002 and people buy them happily. Sometimes customers even requested for certain films to be dubbed so that they can watch their favourite Hollywood actors speaking in Punjabi,”he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2011.