When he was a child, Baisakhi was a time of unparalleled joy for actor-singer Jassie Gill. “As a family, we’d look forward to the festival as it meant that we could finally harvest our crops. It was a period of intense hard work. But excitement kaafi rehti thi yeh soch ke ki paise aayenge aur parents se jo chahiye woh maang sakenge,” shares the Panga (2020) actor, who grew up in a village in Punjab.

A lot has changed as he moved on to carve a niche in the film and music industries: “[Now] my family lives in Canada, and I live in India. And on Baisakhi, I miss them a lot.”

Gill has a four-year-old daughter, Roojas Kaur Gill, who lives with her mum in Canada. He believes the festival is a great way to teach her all about her roots: “The Punjabi community there hosts shows and dance performances, which are accompanied by stories about what they stand for. Mere family ke liye yeh important hai ki apne bachchon ko apne tradition ke saath jod ke rakha jaaye.”

As Baisakhi marks the onset of a new year, he makes a resolution to do quality work in Bollywood. “Rather than doing eight back-to-back movies in a year, I want to be selective about my work,” concludes Gill, who has wrapped up two Hindi films — Noorani Chehra, with actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and an untitled project.