Is
Jimmy
Sheirgill
turning
out
to
be
the
closest
threat
that
Deols
have
in
their
own
home
ground,
Punjab
and
other
territories
where
their
films
more
often
than
not
do
well?
Well,
if
the
battle
of
supremacy
when
it
comes
to
bagging
the
biggest
deals
of
their
respective
films
in
Punjabi
domain
is
concerned,
it
is
well
turning
out
to
be
the
case.
The
latest
development
is
that
overseas
rights
(excluding
UK)
of
Jimmy's
next
outing
Dharti,
a
Punjabi-Hindi
bilingual,
has
been
sold
for
a
handsome
amount
of
1
million
Australian
dollars
to
Dreamworld
Entertainment,
Australia.
There
are
bids
in
UK
(a
hot
territory)
for
the
rights
to
be
sold
to
the
best
buyer.
Meanwhile
the
producers
have
retained
rights
in
India
and
would
be
distributing
films
themselves
here.
"There
are
multiple
reasons
behind
such
big
money
coming
into
picture",
says
a
trade
source,
"Jimmy
is
a
numero
uno
superstar
in
Punjabi
films
today
after
the
all
time
blockbuster
success
of
his
last
release
Mel
Karade
Rabba
(which
is
busy
fetching
awards
for
Best
Actor,
Best
Actress,
Best
film
and
Best
Music
already).
It
went
on
to
even
smash
the
records
of
Sunny
Deol's
Gadar
-
Ek
Prem
Katha
at
number
of
places
in
Punjab.
In
overseas
too
it
was
a
huge
success,
especially
in
Australia,
UK
and
USA."
Prior
to
that,
Jimmy
has
enjoyed
worldwide
blockbusters
in
Tera
Mera
Ki
Rishta
and
Munde
UK
De.
For
the
audience
who
either
swore
by
Deol
films
all
this
while
or
were
exposed
to
some
average
Punjabi
films
from
other
stars,
these
films
came
like
a
whiff
of
fresh
air.
And
now
with
director
Navaniat
Singh
and
Jimmy
being
a
force
after
working
together
in
Tera
Mera
Ki
Rishta
and
Mel
Karade
Rabba,
audience
is
keenly
anticipating
a
hat
trick
in
the
form
of
Dharti.
"Yes,
Dharti
has
been
sold
for
1
million
Australian
dollars
in
overseas
just
on
the
basis
of
first
Look
promo
being
shown
to
the
distributors",
confirms
Jimmy
who
is
also
the
producer
of
the
film,
"It
was
a
huge
responsibility
for
us
to
make
something
good
and
big
after
our
previous
work.
Also,
since
it
is
a
Punjabi-Hindi
bilingual,
we
have
to
ensure
that
film's
treatment
has
the
kind
of
class
that
cuts
boundaries.
It's
the
film's
script
that
was
of
paramount
importance
and
we
worked
hardest
on
that.
Everything
else
came
in
later."
Dharti
is
a
political
thriller
set
in
Punjab
and
would
see
a
worldwide
release
on
the
occasion
of
Vaisakhi,
a
huge
festival
for
Punjabis,
in
April
this
year.
Story first published: Monday, February 7, 2011, 17:20 [IST]