Amar Singh Chamkila: A movie about the Elvis of Punjab
- By Shargeel Sheikh -
- Apr 25, 2024
Way back when in the 1950s, the famous Saadat Hasan Manto was accused of the depiction of obscenity in his plays in the early years of Pakistan. It was worked by the name of Thanda Gosht, Kholdo, and Upar Neeche Darmiyaan that had landed the writer in trouble.
However, Manto was fortunate to not face prison time and had the liberty to escape from these charges. He became one of the most iconic writers of the Indian sub-continent with both the nations India and Pakistan having his documentary produced and hailed.
But everyone is not as lucky as Manto in terms of fighting for the liberation of thought and expression. 122 km from Lahore, in the city of Meshampur in the Indian Punjab, A Raunchy Punjabi singer and his wife were shot dead for producing and singing vulgar Punjabi songs.
It was the year 1988 When Amar Singh Chamkila and his wife Amarjot arrived at a traditional Akhara (Event) to perform. As soon as they left the car, they both got shot along with two other members of their crew.
The assassination was a clear response to Amar Singh Chamkila’s obsession with performing highly sexual and objectifying Punjabi songs despite threats from the extremists.
36 years after the brutal death of Chamkila, we see a Bollywood film coming forth hailing the Punjabi singer as some sort of a revolutionary.
Amar Singh Chamkila was directed by Imtiaz Ali. We all are familiar with Imtiaz from his iconic works of Rockstar, Jab We Met, and Love Aaj Kal. This movie about the Punjabi cult artist is being claimed as his best work so far.
The movie takes us of his rise to being a household name, his rags to riches ascend to interior stardom that took him mainstream all the way to Canada and the UK. The movie depicts his conflict with religious extremists.
The main character of Amar Singh Chamkila has been played by Diljit Dosanjh. This is not the first time Diljit has portrayed this character. He did it first in his movie 2023 Punjabi movie by the name of Jodi. The versatile Pareeniti Chopra took on the role of his late wife Amarjot Kaur.
Both Diljot and Pareeniti struck an appealing balance in the movie. Their chemistry was subtle, decent, and highly in sync. The actors have dwelled well into the narratives provided to them. They connect highly with their audiences and represent the charm Imtiaz Ali’s movies are known to convey.
The storyline is deep and highly emotional. We hear about the main character right after his demise when he is gunned down along with his wife and two other team members. His acquaintances hail him as a God like a powerful figure who won the hearts of millions and who swayed the crowd with his not-so-decent songs.
Amar Singh Chamkila’s justification for producing songs of such standard was the environment he grew up in. We the the immorality of the interior Indian Punjabi society back in those days. The interesting thing is that Amar Singh himself is the only artist producing these songs. There’s a line of well-known artists alongside him. Many turned against him because of his novice fame.
Imtiaz Ali hasn’t been biased on this character. He has simply portrayed what was the truth about him. Amar Singh Chamkila isn’t a nice guy, he is a human being who feels different from many other characters in Imtiaz Ali’s universe. But aren’t we all different?
Don’t we all have our stories to tell? In which we’re the main characters and there are many shades of us. These shades can change the perspective others have of us, just like they changed the ones who view Chamkila and his wife.
That is what Imtiaz Ali’s movies are about. I personally think he aims to explore the stories of famous and ordinary people because when a particular life is explored, it turns out to be much more interesting to hear and see.
The movie further dives into the turbulent lifestyle of the singer. The moment he gets his first stage to perform a major singer fails to appear to come back to Punjab from Canada despite the threats and advice from his friend to remain there. Amr Singh Chamkila turns out to be a man of dedication, a rebel against the norms, a fighter for his expression, and someone who is no longer afraid to let others down.
We see Chamkila’s fearless attitude in front of some Sikh religious leaders when he promises them not to smoke. As soon as he sits in his car and they stand outside to bid him farewell, the hero takes out a cigar and lights it up in front of them.
The movie comes with signature elements of thoughtfulness and focus. It’s for serious viewers even though it comes with a few punches of humor.
Unfortunately, this flick is for the OTT platforms to rule with. If it had been released in theatres, the statistics would have been more definite to judge its commercial success. Right now, the only way to predict it is the movie being listed among the top 10 most watched categories on Netflix.