Chamkila trailer: Diljit Dosanjh plays the ‘highest record selling artiste of Punjab’, who was gunned down in his prime

Chamkila trailer: Diljit Dosanjh plays the ‘highest record selling artiste of Punjab’, who was gunned down in his prime

Imtiaz Ali’s upcoming film Chamkila, starring Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra, released its trailer on Thursday. The trailer introduces the audience to the life of the Punjabi singer Amar Singh Chamkila who started off as a nobody but eventually became one of the most popular Punjabi singers of the era. The film is set in Punjab in the 1980s but since it is a Hindi film, most characters are seen communicating in Hindi.

Diljit, who is playing the titular role here, comes across as a likable, sweet boy-next-door who has identified the pulse of his audience and even though there are protests against his music that many consider ‘bawdy and vulgar’, with people threatening to kill him, he doesn’t let go of his art. The trailer also introduces us to his wife Amarjot, played by Parineeti. The two actors, as per director Imtiaz Ali, have sung the original compositions of Amar Singh Chamkila in the film. The film’s music has been composed by AR Rahman.

WATCH | Chamkila trailer starring Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra

In the many interviews promoting his film, Imtiaz Ali has insisted that both Diljit and Parineeti sang live for the film. The film is based on the story of Punjabi singer Amar Singh Chamkila and his wife Amarjot, who were quite popular locally, were shot by unknown assassins in 1988. The case of their death remains unsolved.

In a chat with indianexpress.com, Imtiaz described this film as a love story between Chamkila and his music album. “I feel that this film or Chamkila’s life in a way is a love story between Chamkila and music. Here is a man who was so scared at some point of time about the warnings that he got, that he actually broke down and cried and he was scared that he would be killed. From that point, a few years later, knowing fully well that if he continues to sing in live performances, he might be gunned down, he still chose to sing,” he said.

Who was Amar Singh Chamkila?

Born as Dhani Ram to Kartar Kaur and Hari Singh Sandila in an impoverished Dalit family in village Dugri, in Punjab’s Ludhiana, Chamkila decided to use his love for music to earn a living and sustain his family. After singing with Surinder Sonia and Usha Kiran, Chamkila finally joined forces with Amarjot Kaur, whom he later married.

The songs featuring both of them worked like conversations. They found immense popularity together as people flocked to Chamkila’s akhadas (free, open air programmes) across Punjab. People would come from far and wide to listen to the songs, and Chamkila once famously had 365 shows in one year. He also recorded for many films and performed outside India.

However, he also had his share of opponents who found his lyrics offensive and vulgar. Given that he was singing in a state caught in the throes of militancy, he started receiving death threats and would often hide for days. He gave up writing suggestive lyrics for some time also. On May 8, 1988, while Chamkila and Amarjot were on their way to Mehsampur in Punjab’s Jalandhar for a show. they were killed by three disguised men riding a motorcycle. No FIR was ever registered in the case and the culprits were never caught.

Chamkila releases on Netflix on April 12.

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