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Apna Farz

Apna Farz follows Pal Kharoud and his team as they rescue the mentally ill, the abandoned, and the destitute from the streets of Punjab. What began with one shocking discovery in a hospital parking lot became a society devoted to restoring dignity to people everyone else had given up on.

apna farz sewa society poster
Trailer
Year
2023
Runtime
29 min
Director
DAVINDER MAHUN
Executive Producer
Satinder "Bicky" Singh
Produced By
Sikhlens, Winsome Productions
Location
India

Synopsis

Apna Farz follows Satpal Singh "Pal" Kharoud, whose life changed after finding a woman with parasites in her skull rotting in a hospital parking lot.

Inspired by Bhagat Puran Singh and Pakistan's Abdul Sattar Edhi, he founded Apna Farz Society in 2019 in village Lachkani, Patiala, dedicating himself to rescuing mentally ill and abandoned people—many found chained by their own families, enslaved as laborers, or dumped by hospitals.

His small team of volunteers provides medical care, daily meals, and dignity to 58 residents, while also supporting over 350 people in their own homes with free medical cards.

The film introduces unforgettable cases: a soldier locked in a rooftop room for nine years by his mother, a man chained and surveilled by camera for up to 18 years while forced to tend cattle, and people found with limbs rotting from neglect.

Through it all, Pal's mother speaks with pride and heartbreak about her son's sacrifice, while his team nurses wounds that doctors refuse to touch. Now building a facility to house 350 people, the film is both an indictment of Punjab's treatment of the mentally ill and a testament to what grassroots sewa can accomplish.

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Film Credits

Director
DAVINDER MAHUN
Executive Producer
Satinder "Bicky" Singh
Produced By
Sikhlens, Winsome Productions
Editor
KARANPAL SINGH
Cinematography
LOVEPREET SINGH
Subtitles
Yes English
Film Location
India
Runtime
29 min
Festival Screenings
Sikhlens Arts and Film Festivals
Cast
DILJOT SINGH (PATIENTS FAMILY MEMBER), GURDEEP SINGH (PATIENT), DEEPAK KUMAR MEHRA (PATIENT), KULDEEP SINGH SOHI (PATIENT)