‘Dear Jassi’, directed by Indian-Canadian director Tarsem Singh, was awarded the Silver Yusr Award for Best Film at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah. But what is it about? It portrays true events that occurred in the Romeo and Juliet-esque love story that ended in the death of Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu, who was killed by her own family. The real-life tragedy is truly a tale for the movies, one that has been adopted for the big screen on multiple occasions. It was the subject of the 2005 movie, ‘Murder Unveiled’ by director Vic Sarin. The tale was also featured on the documentary show 'The Fifth Estate' in the episode 'The Murdered Bride'. The real life story is not devoid of any of the drama that is displayed in its fictional portrayals. See for yourself as we unravel the tragic tale of forbidden love between Jaswinder Kaur 'Jassi' Sidhu and her husband, Sukhwinder Singh 'Mithu'.
The tragic love story:
Jassi Kaur was born and raised outside India, in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. Her family was well endowed and headed by her uncle, Surjit Singh. On a trip to the city of Jagraon in Punjab in 1994, Jassi met and fell in love with Sukhwinder, who was a rickshaw driver at the time. They kept in touch for the next four years. Jassi made another trip with her family in 1999 with the secret purpose marrying him. According to Sukhwinder, Jassi’s sympathetic aunt would mix sleeping pills with her family’s food so that he could sneak in to meet her late at night.
The couple got married in a Gurudwara on March 15, 1999. The marriage was hidden from her family, but they eventually found out about it a year later through relatives in India. As expected, they were strictly against the marriage as Sukhwinder belonged to Jassi’s mother’s village and also because of the wealth difference. They tried to convince Jassi to leave him by offering material possessions but quickly resorted to assaulting her when she wouldn’t relent. They even went to extreme lengths, such as forging legal documents framing Sukhwinder in crimes that he didn’t commit.
Jassi reportedly escaped from family confinement with the help of the Canadian police and flew back to reunite with Sukhwinder on May 12, 2000. On June 8, they were both kidnapped by hitmen hired by Jassi’s uncle. Sukhwinder was beaten senseless while tied to a chair while Jassi was taken to an abandoned farmhouse where the hitmen slit her throat, killing her. Her body was found the next day in an irrigation canal. Investigation revealed that she was killed on the orders of her mother, Malkit Kaur and her uncle, Surjit Singh Badesha. Surjit was arrested on murder charges in 2012 by the Canadian police and the pair was extradited to India in 2019 to face trial. They were found guilty of all charges.
The story has been adopted for the big screen on multiple occasions, most recently in 2023 with the film ‘Dear Jassi’. This story was previously the subject of 2006 Canadian Television film, Murder Unveiled, starring Anita Majumdar. She won the best actress Gemini award for her portrayal of the fictional character Davinder Samra, who was based on Jassi.
'Dear Jassi' premiered at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival and won the Platform Prize program. It has also won the Silver Yusr award for Best Film (the golden award was awarded to ‘In Flames’).