So from next Sunday, Peepat's story on how the village youth gets exploited by agents in getting visas will unfold from Rakesh Bedi, Bhagyashree, Rohit Roy, Raghubir Yadav and Avtar Gill. And sticking to his penchant for the word pardes, after all his name is still being remembered as the maker of Chann Pardesi, Peepat has named his 104-episode-long serial, Na Jayiyo Pardes. ``I feel that every Tom, Dick and Harry should not migrate, en bloc, to the foreign shores. It is not a bed of roses as it looks to be from here. You can see them washing cars and carrying garbage. Come on, why can't you till your own land and help the country to become prosperous? I strongly believe that only those who are extremely qualified, who get good offers from abroad, should cross over.

That will save the country's name from being blemished.'' Peepat echoed what many people have been thinking ever since the Malta boat tragedy took place. Much had been already written about the serial. Now it is time for a little flashback. Peepat belongs to Khanna and has been actively involved with theatre during his college days but we can call him a Chandigarhian for he is a product of the Panjab University from where he did his post-graduation in English Literature. At the Pune Film and Television Institute, he learned the intricacies of film-making along with the stalwarts of acting arena like Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Shakti Kapoor.

But according to him his `real institute' was Raj Kapoor, with whom he worked for six years after passing out of FTII in 1975. ``Whatever I am today is because of him. I was quite seriously involved in his work, rather I used to be his right-hand man. He was the complete film-maker, an expert in all aspects of film-making, whether acting, music or editing. In fact I attribute my first film Chann Pardesi to his help and timely advices.'' The association is still there with the RK clan though Peepat had assisted him only for two films, Satyam Shivam Sundaram and Prem Rog. So when the RK Productions wanted to launch another film with Rajiv Kapoor and Mandakini, to cash in on the success of Ram Teri Ganga Maili after the death of Raj, they did not have any doubt about the director. And, quite coincidentally, the title became Hum To Chale Pardes, a very well-made film about a pampered daughter, an irritably affectionate father and a son-in-law caught in between them.

But the box-office did not respond well to it. ``Mandakini admitted in an interview that she had actually worked only for two films, Ram Teri...' and Hum to...'' But Peepat's films were always talked about. Thus we got the story of property dispute that kills one person in the interiors of Punjab everyday in Waris, which unfortunately became Smita Patil's last film. And if you remember Saif `pataoing' Shilpa with Hathon mein aagaya rumal, you may even remember the much-forgotten KC Bokadia-production Aao Pyar Karein too. But that is Bollywood, you cannot have ups all the time.

In fact Peepat's foray into Bollywood in the status of a director was through `Lava', the triangle piece starring Dimple Kapadia , Raj Babbar and Rajiv. Always with the clan, Rajiv somehow felt that his ventures would be safe in the hands of papa's confidante for the films Peepat had directed for him had done reasonably well, compared to other total collapses. So when this youngest RK product decided to make a mega-serial for the national channel, Peepat was given the charge to create the episodes. Thus Vansh was born. It was the biggest `blockbuster' ever made on television with all the big ones of small and big screens like Rajendra Kumar, Arun Govil and Sushma Seth. But now let us leave his Hindi sallies and get into where he really belongs to, Punjabi film-world.

``The situation is very pathetic. We have moved away from real life and professionalism is something never heard of nowadays. We lack in all aspects, acting, music, camera... Nobody wants to be associated with it. Leave alone the good actors, directors or technicians, even the distributors and theatre-owners turn a blind eye on it. And the common viewer? He is ashamed to tell anyone that he has seen a Punjabi film.'' But what is the way out of this muddle? ``The Punjabi film scenario is so bad that it cannot be resurrected by just one person. It requires a group effort. If only the Punjabi stars in Bollywood like Vinod Khanna and Dharmendra get together and try to bring in changes here, things can hope to get better. For to make a 35 mm film, one needs at least Rs 10 lakhs and here producers give you just three lakhs. So you will have substandard products only. If one mega star sets the trend, the others will follow.'' Hope really sustains a creative person. ``It is not a difficult thing to do. When I madeChann Pardesi, Uttam Singh scored the music and for Laung da Lishkara Jagjit Singh did. And all these people are ready to work even now, provided the product is promising. I am really looking forward to the films made by Gurdas Mann and Jaspal Bhatti. If they do well, things will definitely change here''.

Peepat is an interesting person to interact with. In fact, it was after reaching the office that I remembered, oh,I forgot to ask him about his family. Peepat promptly got in touch with me when he heard about my comment to say, ``Please publish that I am the most eligible bachelor around.'' Let me leave him with you now.