The premiere was held in a single theatre in Amritsar. No fanfare. Just Jassi, now 31, looking tired and calm. The film was 2 hours of silence, longing, and a single scene where his character sees his childhood home on the other side of the border and just whispers, "Ghar aaja, veere." (Come home, brother.)

He explained, "I was the seventh shot. The one nobody expected. But if I keep firing, the gun will overheat. Let the new kids take the aim."

The seventh film was the most anticipated event in Punjabi cinema history. But Jassi didn’t choose a comedy or an action film. He chose a quiet, black-and-white art film about an old man who returns to his village in Pakistan during the Kartarpur Corridor opening.

He walked off the stage. Behind him, a giant banner read:

Director Anurag Singh cast him in a loose sequel to a blockbuster. Jassi played a bumbling NRI from Canada who falls for a feisty cop. The chemistry was electric. The music, by Dr. Zeus, became the anthem of every wedding season. The scene where Jassi tries to propose in broken English but ends up reciting a Bulleh Shah couplet went viral on early YouTube.

But Mitti da Putar captured the soul of Punjab. Jassi’s performance in the climax—where he holds a handful of dying, poisoned wheat while screaming, “Eh mitti meri maa hai!” (This soil is my mother)—broke hearts. The film collected ₹7 crore against a ₹1.5 crore budget. It was a superhit. For the first time, a "common man" had become a star.

It earned ₹48 crore. Not the biggest, but the most loved . Hit number five.