Imtiaz Ali: Everything that Chamkila touched turned into gold just like our film - Exclusive
Imtiaz Ali has been part of the movie business for nearly 20 years now and in these years, he has redefined the romance genre. With his latest film ‘Amar Singh Chamkila’, he attempted a biopic and came out with flying colours. The film which is already in its third week is not only topping the streaming charts in India, but also across the globe. In fact, Diljit Dosanjh who played the titular role, is currently in Canada for a musical tour and informed the filmmakers that the people overseas have also been raving about the film.
Talking about it in an exclusive interview with ETimes, Imtiaz said, “It feels great, a lot of people have been calling to congratulate, etc. Sometimes you’ve got to remind yourself to feel nice about it. Maybe this film will give me a chance to dive deeper into where I want to go and the kind of films that I want to make. And, if making those films in a popular genre will be possible.”
Making this film hasn’t been easy for Imtiaz. Over the last few years, three of his films – ‘Love Aaj Kal’, ‘Tamasha’ and ‘When Harry Met Sejal’ – faced difficult times at the box office. Reflecting on the ups and downs in his career, he said, “I was not too phased by the films that didn’t do too well because I realized that sometimes you do experiments. I did not want to play safe. After making a film like ‘Jab We Met’, I didn’t want to make another film like ‘Jab We Met’, which is why I didn’t make ‘Cocktail’. Not because I don’t like success, but for me, success is to become a much, much better filmmaker who can make certain films, which will have even more success.”
“Sometimes to reach a particular point, the path is not straight, it takes you through various kinds of things. And sometimes it takes you through success and failure. So I wasn’t that disappointed. Of course, you know, success defines how difficult or easy it is for you to make the film that you want to make. So I was not heartbroken or disappointed. My whole interest was to make this story. And how can I make it well,” he explained.
Imtiaz also opened up about feeling lucky to make the film on Amar Singh Chamkila. “I’m lucky that this story, which a lot of people have wanted to make before me, finally came to us. That I could make it is also a blessing. A lot of my friends, other film directors, for many years have tried to make this story,” he said.
He recounted the circumstances that led to him bagging the project and mentioned, that a man named Harpreet from Punjab was the first one who managed to get the rights for a film on Chamkila. He shared, “Sitting in Punjab he thought about who should make the film and thought about me. I asked him later, ‘Why did you think of me?’. He said, ‘You’ve made a ‘Rockstar’, which has good music’. Secondly, he said, ‘Punjab is authentic in your films’.”
He revealed that Harpreet wanted the film to be a Hindi film and not a Punjabi one because, “He felt that people already knew Chamkila in Punjab, and it was a larger story than just a regional story. He wanted it to be at least national and perhaps international. So there is the destiny of Chamkila. Everything that he touched turned to gold. Every song of his is a hit. Every Akhada of his was oversold. And I feel that his destiny continued in this film also, the film has performed the way his songs have.”