Qismat

A single titled Qismat was released by Ammy Virk starring Sargun Mehta in its music video which got huge success and was one of the most successful hits of Ammy Virk.[3] When Jagdeep Sidhu was asked would their be any similarity between film and song, he denied by saying that genre of song was sad whereas film is romedy.[4] The film was written by Jagdeep Sidhu even before the release of song Qismat but was untitled yet. Also, the film was written for Bollywood and was narrated to Sushant Singh Rajput, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Ayushmann Khurrana, Vicky Kaushal, Kartik Aaryan, Shraddha Kapoor and to leading production houses – Yash Raj, Balaji, T-Series, Dharma by Sidhu but wasn’t working and one of his friend asked Sidhu to make the film in Punjabi.[5] After the film was signed producers suggested Sidhu to direct the film by himself only.[6]

He wanted to direct the film with new lead actors.[7] As, Virk is his old friend and have done many films together before said he would do the film. Then, Tania was being considered as a lead actress but Sidhu wasn’t sure.[5] Sidhu said, “One day Sargun came to meet Ammy and we just shared the film with her. As soon as she heard the script, she wanted to do it.”[5] Sargun wrote, "Jab Jaggi Ne Mujhe yeh film Sunayi thi tabhi Meri Aankhon Mein Aansu they" means "when Jaggi was narrating this film to her she was crying".[8] So, due to similarity in characters and crew of film and song, the film was titled as Qismat. There were also some shooting locations in Chandigarh and Benaras similar in song and film.[4] In an interview with PTC Punjabi Ammy and Sargun disclosed that they both signed the film just few days after the release of song and only film signed by Sargun releasing in 2018. Her last film Lahoriye was released 16 months ago from Qismat.[9]

Qismat was filmed in a single schedule of 45 days in Chandigarh[4] and other villages of Punjab. Principal photography of the film was started on 13 February 2018 at Anandpur Kalud (village in Punjab) and ran till 31 March 2018 where Jalesh Oberoi served as cinematographer.[10][11] The last scene where Bani dies in the hospital was a dilemma for Sidhu and he kept it for filming.[5] And, finally decides to not spoil the originality of the concept and was shot similar to screenplay.[7] Sidhu in an interview described the film experience as “friendly vibe” and “comfortable” for him as compared to his 2019 film Shadaa.[5]

Arjun Rathod served as art director, background score was composed by Gurmeet Singh and Sandeep Saxena whereas post-production was done by Varun Bansal. Choreography for film was done by Mehul Gadani, Arvind Thakur and Sunil Thakur whereas Japneet Dhingra served as costume designer. Qismat was edited by Manish More and its final cut ran for 137 minutes.[12] British Board of Film Classification passed the film uncut of runtime 137 minutes 21 seconds. Overseas distribution rights for the film were acquired by B4U Network Ltd.[13] In India, the film was rated as 'U' category and passed with runtime 140 minutes.[14]

Qismat had grossed ₹19.25 crore in India and ₹11.8 crore in other territories,[25] for a worldwide total ₹31.05 crore. It became fifth highest-grossing Punjabi film of all time, as well as second highest-grossing Punjabi film of 2018,[26][27] second highest-grossing film for Ammy Virk and Sargun Mehta after their debut Angrej released in 2015.

According to Box Office India Qismat opened very good. The collections of the film were three times Shahid Kapoor's starrer Batti Gul Meter Chalu in cities of Punjab. The film opened as the second highest grosser of 2018 behind Carry On Jatta 2 also the film had eighth highest opening ever for Punjabi films. On its opening day the film grossed ₹2.3 crore and ₹1.8 crore nett in India. It collect ₹2.37 crore on its second day and took a total of ₹4.67 crore in just two days[28][29][30] On its third day film grossed ₹2.66 crore in India making the weekend total ₹7.33 crore.[31][32] According to Bollywood Hungama at overseas, the film performed better than all other Indian releases collecting ₹71.51 lacs at United States, ₹1.27 crore at Canada, ₹44.28 lacs at United Kingdom, ₹55.64 lacs at Australia and ₹17.25 lacs at New Zealand in its opening weekend.[33][34][35][36][37] The film opened as fifth highest opening weekend of all time behind Carry On Jatta 2, Sardaar Ji, Sardaar Ji 2 and Manje Bistre also the film was announced as a huge hit after its weekend by Box Office India. In four days the film netted ₹6.03 crore at domestic box office and the Monday collections dropped just 25% from the good opening day.[38]

In its second weekend, the film dominates even on new releases like Parahuna and Sui Dhaaga in Canada. In 10 days, the film collected est. ₹9 crore at overseas including ₹1.64 crore in US, ₹4.48 crore in Canada, ₹89.28 lacs in UK, ₹1.37 crore in Australia and ₹38.77 lacs in New Zealand.[39][40] The film continued its blockbuster run in third week, till its third weekend film grossed ₹1.95 crore in USA, ₹5.82 crore in Canada, ₹1.24 crore in UK, ₹1.6 crore in Australia and ₹43.86 lacs in New Zealand and remained in top charts in some countries.[25]

Qismat received positive reviews from audience and critics alike. All the cast and crew of the film were praised.[41]

Jasmine Singh of The Tribune appreciated Jagdeep Sidhu, saying, "Only a few directors have managed to dabble with romance on screen, and Jagdeep Sidhu is one such director who has handled the subject with ‘love’." Reviewer adds about dialogues, "The dialogues in the film are light yet hitting, in fact it has hundred romantic pick up lines that might come to your rescue someday. The film has dollops of humorous dialogues, the credit for which goes to the dialogue writer and Ammy Virk for delivering them in such a way that even the saddest person wouldn’t help smiling."[42] Amit Arora of Times Of India rated the film as 3.0 out 5. Praised most the soundtrack of the film, saying, "The only thing that makes the first half bearable is the music. ‘Pasand Jatt Di’ and ‘Gallan Teriya’ are already a hit and even during a short drive, you are likely to catch one or the other on the radio. ‘Kaun Hoyega’ and ‘Fakira’ have been woven well into the script and Jaani and B Praak deserve credit as music directors." But on other side the reviewer criticised the tragedic scenes in the film, length of the film and chemistry between Ammy and Sargun in first half.[43]