Amar Singh Chamkila Review: Imtiaz Ali's best work to date has Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra in top form

Amar Singh Chamkila Review: Imtiaz Ali's best work to date has Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra in top form

Amar Singh Chamkila Review: Imtiaz Ali’s films have always been able to connect to the audience. Sure there have polarised reactions to many of his films but there has always been something to take away. His latest Amar Singh Chamkila is different from his past work in many ways yet it connects to the audience in more ways than one. It is an important story for sure as it narrates the struggle rise and assassination of Punjabi singer Amar Singh Chamkila in the 1980s at the height of Punjab’s insurgency and caste politics. For many Chamkila is a lesson in the history of the world that existed before social media became a means for artists to connect to viewers and fans directly.

Chamkila attained popularity at a time when there were no Spotify or Instagram reels to promote music. One of the most successful artists that Punjab ever witnessed Chamkila’s rise to fame was fascinating. He was accused of singing vulgar songs yet it was these songs that made him connect to people the most

In Imtiaz Ali’s film, singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh transforms himself to play the man who became an enigma in North India in a short period and one whose assassination remains still unresolved nearly four decades later.

Chamkila Story

The story by now is known to all. Dosanjh plays Amar Singh Chamkila or Dhaniya Singh, a Dalit Sikh who yearns to become a singer and is frustrated with his job at a cloth-making factory. A chance meeting with local star Jinda who ropes him in to write lyrics for his music provides the gateway to the world of akharas and music- a world that he has been yearning to be a part of.

On one such Akhada or concert the main artist gets late and to appease the restless crowd, the manager asks Chamkila to sing. By the time Jinda comes on stage the crowd is no longer interested in listening to him and wants Chamkila back on stage. Chamkila gets the much-needed boost and decides to go solo and stars performing alone. Female singers come and go, until he meets Amarjot Kaur (Parineeti) and the duo form a formidable pair that chart history in Punjabi music in coming years.

The Essence of Amar Singh Chamkila

With the help of real-life footage of the two singers, their photos and animations, Imtiaz Ali creates a fascinating and immersive experience that captivates your attention in every frame. Chamkila is much more than an AR Rahman musical. It is about caste politics in Punjab where a Dalit’s success is hard to digest for Puritans. It is about the loneliness that the protagonist feels throughout his lifetime, even when he has reached giddy heights of stardom It is about two artists who provided so much happiness in times of unrest and riots through their music yet were mere providers for their families and loved ones- and nothing else. It is also about artistic freedom and artists challenging the religious authority with their powerful work- something that is slowly diminishing in current times across the world.

The film’s two lead actors Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra infuse life into a known story. The two not only pick up the mannerisms of rural rising singers of the 1980s but also perform some of Chamkila’s iconic songs live for the screen- and are splendid at that. Parineeti, who has played lively/feisty characters for most of her career- is beautifully restrained as Amarjot Kaur. Parineeti plays a woman who is initially reluctant to be a part of the Chamkila’s programs and is forced to sing on stage by her greedy father and husband but eventually grows fondness for Chamkila and subsequently elopes with him to live a life on her terms.

Parineeti and Diljit also share great on-screen chemistry – their scenes of rehearsing with Diljit teaching her and Parineeti picking up the notes look organic and hence are beautiful. The two complement each other as performers and singers and take you deep into a world effectively created by writers Sajid Ali and Imtiaz.

The star of the film is Diljit Dosanjh who brings a certain amount of vulnerability to his character. Diljit is known to be a terrific live performer, and so performing live as Chamkila may have come easy- but the transformation, with a change in body language to suit his character, is splendid and something that you want to watch with utmost patience just to devour his act. He is equal parts brazen and equal parts innocent. A scene has him lighting up at the thought of being in a film- as he confesses to his aid how he has always longed to be in front of the camera – much like his idol Amitabh Bachchan. Then a scene where religious leaders have made him promise to never smoke or sing vulgar songs is poignant as he realizes that people will always control him and so he stubbornly lights up a smoke almost in front of those who have been reprimanding him.

While Chamkila’s original songs are all there and performed live by the two actors, AR Rahman infuses soulful music as well as forms an important part of storytelling.

Imtiaz Ali uses multiple forms of storytelling. It is part psychedelic and part immersive and definitely captivating- infusing the colours of rural Punjab and bonhomie into a rather grim backdrop of insurgency.

Like most biopics, it does try to whitewash Chamkila a bit and justifies several of his actions but the world is stunning and Ali’s vision captivates you from the very first frame.

In the last few years, Imtiaz Ali’s films have followed a similar trope- of a man-child finding himself through the course of the film with a woman willing to help him grow. Quite honestly after Highway, I had stopped enjoying his films. But Chamkila will place Imtiaz Ali back at the top of his game. It is undoubtedly one of his most political films yet his best work to date. Do not miss this one.

Amar Singh Chamkila is streaming on Netflix.