Gufi Paintal

Featuring Gurdas Mann, Mini Punjab has all the flavors required for a masala flick- action, comedy, love, revenge, tragedy, etc. But what makes it stand out from the rest is that it also has a social message that shouldn't be missed.

Satyadev Singh lives with his wife, Ganga, and two sons, Sham and Ghansham, and their family leads a fairly comfortable life. Things turn for the worse for them when a new corrupt Collector named Bhim Singh enters their region. Satyadev is killed, and Ganga has to flee with her children away from this region, and from Bhim Singh. Years later, Sham and Ghansham have grown up and would like to avenge their father's death. Their quest takes them to Collector Bhim Singh and his men, who are ready to let history repeat itself, by killing the sons of Satyadev Singh. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Deepak (Vikas Bhalla) and Jyoti (Neelam Dharamdas) are in love, against her wealthy father's wishes. When Seth Dharamdas (Dalip Tahil) has Deepak assaulted, Jyoti rebels and marries him. They move in with his sister, Asha, and her husband, Madan, who is an investment banker. On request of Shakti Singh (Kiran Kumar), he invests two and a half million in real estate, only to find out he has been swindled out of the money. Deepak sells his ancestral property, only to be robbed. The funds must be replaced in 24 hours, when they meet Prakash (Sumeet Saigal). He makes an indecent proposal to Jyoti, spend one night with him in exchange for the money. —L. Y. Hostrawser

When Ajay Sharma, a fresh college graduate, is offered to move abroad for better work opportunities, he tries to find his birth certificate but is unable to locate it. He then asks his widowed mother for it but she denies any knowledge of it. Finding tattered pieces of his birth certificate, Ajay joins the pieces and figures that his real name is, in fact, Raj Malhotra and not Raj Sharma. Upon questioning his mother, he learns that his father, Ravi Malhotra, is alive and is serving a sentence in prison for a crime he did not commit. His college best friend Raj joins hands with Ajay, and the two set out to avenge the wrongdoings imposed on Ajay's father.

The son of the chairman of a bank is abducted and held for ransom. DSP Ali intervenes, but is unable to save the child. Later, his world is turned upside down when his daughter is kidnapped. India is plagued with kidnappings of young children from wealthy backgrounds with their abductors demanding huge ransoms or brutally killing their victims. After the retirement of Police Commissioner Hamza Sheikh, DSP Ali Haider Jaffri takes over. Shortly after this, he displays his abilities when he successfully apprehends a gang of bank robbers - albeit by jeopardizing the life of a bank customer. Then the son of the Continental Bank Chairman, Srivastav, is abducted and held for ransom. Ali comes to know about this, intervenes, but is unable to save the child, resulting in considerable criticism of mishandling this incident. Then Ali's very own world is turned upside down when his daughter, Shagufta, who is to marry Naseerudin, the son of the Home Minister, Syed Noorudin Ahmed, is abducted along with Naseerudin. The question remains - with the lives of his loved ones in jeopardy - will Ali compromise with the kidnappers? —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

A new version of the popular love story of Heer (Sridevi) and Deedho (Anil Kapoor), who calls himself Ranjha after leaving home and living incognito in Heer's village as a labourer in her father's (Shammi Kapoor) house. Heer and Deedho were childhood sweethearts, separated because of family animosities which have grown over the years, kept on the boil by Kaheda (Anupam Kher), whose leg was irreparably fractured by Deedho's family and friends. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)