Dastaar

The first Punjabi-language film ever shot in Hull spent nine weeks in the city at the end of 2025, and the story it came to tell happens right there. 'Dastaar', directed by Amar Hundal, is a drama about a Sikh community in 1980s Britain. The title means turban, and that's what the film is about: what it stands for to the man who wears it, and how much he's willing to take rather than give it up.

Harnek Singh is a Sikh immigrant working for a living in a northern English city. His community puts up with daily hostility from some of the neighbours, and he takes it patiently. To him the turban is about faith, honour and family, not about looking for trouble.

That calm breaks when a racist attack takes the people he loves most. Instead of sinking into grief, Harnek turns his anger into resolve and starts to push back. Bit by bit, a man who only wanted to work in peace becomes the voice of his community against the racism they face every day.

Tarsem Jassar, a singer before he was an actor and the lead of 'Rabb Da Radio' and 'Mastaney', plays Harnek. Geet Goraya is Tehzeeb Kaur, and Yograj Singh, the former India cricketer and father of Yuvraj Singh, plays Harnek's father. Dheeraj Rattan and Manila Rattan wrote it, and Gunbir Singh Sidhu and Manmord Sidhu produced it through White Hill Studios, the team behind 'Sardaar Ji 3'.

Locals may spot Trinity House Lane in the city centre and Carlton Towers near Goole, and Hull-based Northern Films reckons the shoot put around £1.2m into the regional economy. It opened in cinemas in July 2026 in the UK, India and the US, where it took $222,139 on its first weekend. It runs two and a half hours, and since October it's been streaming on Chaupal through Prime Video in the UK, India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

• Drama