Tributes to award-winning Wolverhampton Bollywood film maker
Tributes have poured in for a well-loved Bollywood film producer from Wolverhampton.
Surinder Singh Bahara, aged 70, died from coronavirus in New Cross Hospital on May 28.
He was born on July 28 1949 in a small village in Punjab, India.
He moved to Wolverhampton with his parents at the age of six-years-old, and attended Highfields School.
From an early age he was a film fanatic and even used to skip school to go to the cinema.
In 1951 he married his wife Gurbinder, who is now aged 69, they went on to have three sons, Bharat and twins Citel and Deepak and later six grandchildren.
In the late 1970s he set up the first Indian video shop in Wolverhampton in All Saints called Sangeet Videos, before he went on to open his own cinema in Bilston in the 80s, showing a range of Bollywood titles.
His career in the film industry continued and he went on to produce the first Punjabi movie filmed in England, which was shot in various parts of Wolverhampton.
The film, titled Yaari Jatt Di, was released in 1987 and went on to win a coveted Silver Jubilee Award.
Sitel Bahara, one of Surinder's sons 43 who lives in Parkfields, said: "He rubbed shoulders with all the celebrities in India and we had so many celebrities come to our house including Mithun Chakraborty and Sunny Deol."
Surinder took a trip to India and struggled to get home due to lockdown. During this time his eldest son Bharat died from bilateral pneumonia aged 46.
Sitel added: "He was fighting in hospital for 16 days on a ventilator, he had organ failure but then began to pick up again and continue fighting. He then got an infection.
"He was so well known, well loved and respected in Wolverhampton. Anyone he knew who needed help he would help them.
"When he retired he said he was devoting his life to his grandchildren and he did, the kids all miss him so much.
"He had such a good life and he will be remembered."
