Starring Harbhajan Mann, Neeru Bajwa, and Gursharan Maan. In Punjabi with English subtitles. Rated PG.

Heer Ranjha tells a tale of doomed love, which closely mirrors the tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet.

This Punjabi remake of a classic Bollywood telling of the Heer Ranjha legend, which was written entirely in Urdu poetry by Qaifi Azmi and later directed by the late great Vijay Anand, is strong enough to stand on its own.

Credit to veteran television director Harjit Singh, who through some minor and major alterations (there are many versions of this story as told by various writers of the time), was able to craft an authentic evocation of a timeless tale of true love.

At its core, the Heer Ranjha legend has three main characters: the two lovers and Heer’s evil uncle Kaido. Interestingly, all three are played by Indo-Canadian actors.

Surrey-based Punjabi singer and film star Harbhajan Mann and starlet Neeru Bajwa play the lovers, while Toronto-based television host and actor Gursharan Maan is the villainous Kaido, without whom the tragic tale would not be complete. Like Judas, it is Kaido’s final betrayal that elevates the Heer Ranjha legend from run-of-the-mill love stories to an epic tragedy.

Although both Mann and Maan do justice to their characters, it is Bajwa who shines as Heer. She plays a young woman trying to break the shackles of a male-dominated society by asserting her independence and fighting against tyranny to reclaim her true love.

The film equates true love with divine power, arguing that those who find their soul mates find God. Kaido’s final murderous act leaves the couple’s love unfulfilled, but it actually (as in the case of Judas’s betrayal) has the opposite effect: by dying, Heer and Ranjha live on forever through stories, songs, and films.