It's an honest request. One that comes with all the sound effects, two years after its formation. In its first of a kind meet-cum-seminar, members of the North Zone Film & TV Association got together at Punjab qKala Bhawan and added much needed fuel to burnt out fires. “It’s time to take action and bring our industry up to the level it deserves,” convened Association’s president, JS Cheema, following which actors, artists, producers, directors, a line of creative minds took to the podium and voiced the same. “We have to develop this platform...the region is a minefield of talent, and we are still treated as junior artists by Mumbai! An actor is a live tool, use him...we are like a barren piece of land, invest in us and everyone will reap its benefits.... why should even a small star from Mumbai be a hype in the city when we have bigger ones here?” questions, views, opinions came flying in from speakers including Anil Sharma, Devinder Daman, Manmohan Singh to list a few. But the best one came from Kuldip Sharma. “We are of no consequence to the government. Heck, they don’t even understand what Goonda Act is, that once it’s in action, it will only be of advantage! I guess we need to come together and become a votebank, maybe then we’ll be heard and seen,” to which Cheema agreed by adding, “We are still a private enterprise. From getting lights, equipment, recording studios, dubbing artists, cameras, even cranes, we’ve done it without the government, and it’s time they stop acting deaf and invest in film and television infrastructure here.”

This is where actor-director-producer Satish Kaushik steps in with full support. Here at the invitation of the association and as a new member too, Kaushik first cleared the air about the film city Parsavnath controversy. “Today, I consider it a mistake. It was a mistake to take the tender to Parsavnath and believe in them or the UT Administration too. I put my passion, my money, my time into it. I had plans of bringing in LA Studios to Chandigarh, and today the Administration wants to brush me off! Film City was my dream, I invested in my dream....and now, I want to re-invest with you,” he talks of encouraging Haryanvi cinema in the region. “Punjabi is already a hit, it’s time for Haryanvi now,” says Kaushik, all for regional cinema and local talent. “We can’t carry on with Bombay bashing, we have to stand up for ourselves, and raise our voice,” says the actor who is all set to release his next film Tere Sang. Quiz him what happened to the Chandigarh MCM DAV girl he called for audition, and he says, “she was talented, a great dancer, but raw, so we’ve asked her to hone her talent at Anupam Kher’s school first.”