Award-winning filmmaker and writer-director of Fire In The Mountains, Ajitpal Singh’s first original series Tabbar, a family drama/ crime thriller premiered on Sony Liv last month.
Sony Liv has launched in Canada with Tabbar which is releasing in 28 global territories including the European Union, U.K., the Middle East, North Africa, Singapore, Australia, India, Canada and New Zealand.
Excited about the Canada launch of Sony Liv with his first series Tabbar, the self taught filmmaker Ajitpal Singh says, “I am glad that Sony Liv is launching in Canada with Tabbar. Earlier this year, my debut feature, Fire in the Mountains, premiered at Sundance and my short Rammat Gammat premiered on Mubi. Both have been screened around the globe. As a storyteller, I believe we can transcend borders. I hope audiences in Canada and the UK will enjoy Tabbar.”
Set in Punjab, Tabbar is a homecoming for the filmmaker whose father, a farmer and ex-army man, ran a cinema hall in Bathinda but had to migrate to Gujarat after long curfews in the face of militancy when Ajitpal was an 8 year old boy.
Talking about the show Ajitpal says, “I am always attracted to stories that provide me possibilities and freedom to explore subtext and themes. Tabbar is one such story. On the surface, it’s a crime thriller, but once you dig deeper, it’s a human drama and you will find themes like God vs no God, Evil vs Good, drugs along with spirituality and suffering. I was confident that if I was given freedom, I will be able to shape this story in a very refreshing way mainly because I also come from Punjab and I understand that land very well.I am grateful to Sony and Jar Pictures for giving me a free hand”.
Happy about his short (Rammat Gammat, Mubi 2021), feature (Fire In The Mountains, Sundance 2021) and series (Tabbar, Sony Liv 2021) coming out in 2021 Ajitpal, says “It takes years to build a body of work and it’s amazing that my short, feature and series is coming out in 2021”
But this year was not just about highs. The filmmaker was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in February. He shot the series in March during the pandemic and just three weeks after undergoing the surgery.
Set against the backdrop of Jalandhar, the show consists of 8 episodes charting the journey of a retired police constable who pushes the boundaries to save his family from the consequences of an unfortunate incident and promises a memorable thriller in the heart of rural Punjab.
The show produced by Jar Pictures features ensemble stellar cast like Pavan Malhotra, Supriya Pathak, Gagan Arora, Kanwaljit Singh, Ranvir Shorey and new finds like Paramvir Cheema and Sahil Mehta and the music is produced by Sneha Khanwalkar
Ajitpal Singh is a self-taught filmmaker living in Mumbai.
His debut series as a director, Tabbar (Family) is releasing on Sony Liv on October 15. Earlier this year, his debut feature, (Fire in The Mountains) had its World Premiere at Sundance Film Festival 2021 and his short (Rammat Gammat) as a writer-director premiered on Mubi.
Fire In The Mountains had its world premiere at Sundance 2021 in the ‘World Cinema Dramatic Competition’ as the only film from India and South Asia. The film received glowing reviews and has won 8 awards so far including Jury and Audience awards for Best film, Best Director, Best Actor (Male and female lead). Earlier titled Swizerland, Fire In The Mountains won two awards for the best WIP project at 2019 Film
Bazaar’s Work-In-Progress Lab 2019. The screenplay was selected for NFDC Screenwriters’ Lab 2018-19 and was also part of 2020 Marche Du Film’s FB Goes to Cannes.
His short film Rammat-Gammat won the ‘Special Mention’ award at the prestigious short film festival of Oberhausen 2018, and after touring over 55 noted international and Indian film festivals including Palm Spring Shorts Fest, Cinekid, MAMI and winning six awards, it premiered on Mubi. His other short film, Hummingbird, which also travelled to many international film festivals won a jury award for best short film in France.
Ajitpal’s first screenplay was part of Sundance Screenwriters Lab 2012 where it won the Sundance Grant. His mentors were Oscar winner filmmaker Asif Kapadia (Amy) and Oscar Nominated screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga (Amores Perros, Babel and 21 Grams), Michael Goldenberg (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), José Rivera (The Motorcycle Diaries), Howard A. Rodman (Savage Grace) and Marcos Bernstein (Oscar nominated Brazilian film Central Station). His second screenplay (Fire In The Mountains) was selected for NFDC Screenwriters’ Lab.
Ajitpal was also part of Berlinale Talent Campus and the youngest member of the Indian delegation at Munich Film Festival 2009, selected by Goethe Institute. He has worked as a researcher and field producer on over 15 international documentaries. Ajitpal wrote dialogues for Once Again (available on Netflix), a Germany-India co- production film and worked as an associate director for Gurgaon (available on Netflix) and as an assistant director for Patang (Berlinale 2011).
Born in Punjab, Ajitpal Singh was an 8- years-old-boy when his father, a farmer and ex-army man, ran a cinema hall in Bathinda which suffered huge losses and was shut down during insurgency in Punjab. His family moved to Ahmedabad where his father took up a job of a security guard. Ajitpal Singh grew up in a ghetto amidst poverty and violence and being a Sikh child, he faced a lot of discrimination due to anti Sikh sentiments in India at that time.
His greatest passions are writing, reading, cooking, cycling and travelling. After studying chemistry, learning theatre and photography, he chose filmmaking as his calling. Cycling is his main mode of travelling within Mumbai.
