‘Spoke to one of Amar Singh Chamkila’s killers, got insight into their motivation’: Mehsampur director says ‘hiring guns’ was common in 1980s Punjab

‘Spoke to one of Amar Singh Chamkila’s killers, got insight into their motivation’: Mehsampur director says ‘hiring guns’ was common in 1980s Punjab

Kabir Singh Chowdhry, the director of Mehsampur, spoke about interacting with the slain singer Amar Singh Chamkila’s old acquaintances (and possible killer) while researching the film. Mehsampur is an experimental movie that examines the life and legacy of Chamkila, through the eyes of those who worked with him. The film has re-emerged into the spotlight after a festival run some years ago, thanks to the release of Imtiaz Ali’s Netflix biopic Amar Singh Chamkila, starring Diljit Dosanjh.

Chamkila was gunned down by masked men alongside his wife Amarjot in the town of Mehsampur, in 1988. Two others in his troupe died as well. The murders remain unsolved. In an interview with Hindustan Times, Chowdhry claimed to have spoken to one of Chamkila’s killers, but underplayed the interaction. He said, “Spending time on the ground in Punjab pursuing Chamkila’s story, I inevitably crossed paths with one of Chamkila’s killers who is still alive. While I did get some insight into the motivations behind the act, I wouldn’t put too much weight on it. The atmosphere in Punjab during those days was chaotic and lawless, where hiring guns for nefarious purposes was not uncommon. It was a time when personal vendettas were settled with violence, and individuals resorted to hiring others to carry out their dirty work.”

He continued, “In such a volatile environment, retribution and reasoning often took a backseat to the ruthless pursuit of power and control. So whether it was professional jealousy, discriminatory hatred towards his caste, conjuring up of a puritanical narrative against his style of music and other unknown reasons, is yet to be fearlessly uncovered.”

He said that Chamkila’s murder has been left unsolved ‘for a variety of reason’ such as ‘the passage of time’ and the sheer number of suspects involved. “It’s also possible that there were political or societal pressures at play, hindering the investigation,” he added. In Mehsampur, Chowdhry gets Chamkila’s old associates to reenact crucial moments in their lives, including Chamkila’s murder. “Incorporating Lal Chand, Tikki, and Sonia into our film was a deliberate choice to blend reality with fiction. Through their narratives, we got an insights into Chamkila’s world, although we treated much of it as a blend of hearsay and intricate truths, ripe with potential for fictional exploration,” he said.

Also starring Parineeti Chopra, Amar Singh Chamkila opened to positive reviews on Netflix.

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