Amar Singh Chamkila (film)

Amar Singh Chamkila is a 2024 Indian Hindi-language biographical drama film based on the life of musician Amar Singh Chamkila. It is directed, produced and co-written by Imtiaz Ali. The film stars Diljit Dosanjh in the titular role, with Parineeti Chopra as his second wife, Amarjot.

The film's music is composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics written by Irshad Kamil. Principal photography began in December 2022 and ended in March 2023. The film premiered at Mumbai on 8 April 2024, and released on Netflix on 12 April 2024 and received critical acclaim, with many calling it a return-to-form for Imtiaz Ali's career.

Plot
A humble singer's brash lyrics ignite fame and fury across Punjab as he grapples with soaring success and brutal criticism before his untimely death.

Amar Singh, born in a Dalit family in Punjab was working in a socks manufacturing factory (much to his dismay) as a teenager, whereas his heart and soul were wrenched in creating music. He finally chose to break the shackles and started building contacts with musicians in the state with the help of his acquaintances. He started working under a known musician and singer Jinda, who acknowledged his talent and began to use his lyrics in his songs (without giving any credit to Amar Singh). As a blessing in disguise, he got a chance to sing in place of Jinda as he was late and the public went berserk with Amar Singh's performance (the name "Chamkila" was first associated with him at this event) to the extent that they did not want to listen to the lead singer Jinda anymore, such was the power of his voice and lyrics. The rest of the movie follows his life's journey after that event including his unsolved assassination.

Development


Imtiaz Ali announced the film under his banner Window Seat Films. Known for modern relationship dramas such as Jab We Met (2007), Love Aaj Kal (2009), Rockstar (2011) and Tamasha (2015). The film follows the journey of Punjab's original rockstar of the masses, Amar Singh Chamkila, who was assassinated at a young age. Ali termed the film "a unique journey" for him and further added, "Shooting for Chamkila felt like a very different experience as a filmmaker. The film follows the crazed popularity of Chamkila's daring songs that society could neither ignore nor swallow. It helped me reconnect with a different side of myself."

The film was initially titled Chamkila and was later changed to Amar Singh Chamkila. Parineeti Chopra and Diljit Dosanjh have sung a total of 15 songs for the film. On this, Chopra stated, "One of the main reasons I did this film was because I was getting to sing some 15 songs for it." The film marks Ali's return as a director after four years, and his films to not release in theatres.

Casting


Diljit Dosanjh was cast to play the titular role of Amar Singh Chamkila. Dosanjh said, "Playing Amar Singh Chamkila has been one of the most challenging experiences of my life."

Parineeti Chopra was cast as Chamkila's second wife, Amarjot Kaur. Chopra left Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Animal, to be a part of the project, due to schedule conflicts. Chopra stated, "It's one of the most exciting films that I've ever worked on." For her role in the film, Chopra gained 15 kilos.

On casting Dosanjh and Chopra, Ali stated: "I could not have asked for better actors than the immensely talented Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra to play in this film, especially since it involves some live singing." Later, filmmaker Rahul Mittra was cast in a pivotal role by Ali.

Filming
The principal photography was started in December 2022. Set primarily in Punjab, the film was shot at real locations throughout the state. Both Chopra and Dosanjh completed the shooting in March 2023, and the filming was wrapped up by the end of March. Shooting locations in Punjab including Sangrur, Ludhiana and Mehsampur. A portion has also been shot in Mumbai.

Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack is composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics written by Irshad Kamil. The first song, "Ishq Mitaye" was released on 29 February 2024. The second song, "Naram Kaalja" was released on 14 March 2024. The soundtrack received critical acclaim upon release.

Release
The film's premiere was held in Mumbai on 8 April 2024. The film was released on 12 April 2024 on Netflix, coinciding with Baisakhi.

Reception
Amar Singh Chamkila's eldest daughter Amandeep Kaur showed disappointment with Imtiaz Ali. She said Imtiaz Ali didn't do justice with the film by omitting the crucial moments of her family especially her mother Gurmail Kaur performing the last rites of her father. She further said Imtiaz Ali showed everyone from Amarjot's family, the second wife of Amar Singh Chamkila, but no one from her family.

Critical response
Amar Singh Chamkila received critical acclaim, with reviewers praising Dosanjh and Chopra 's performances, the film's soundtrack, and Ali's direction.

Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com rated 4/5 stars and observed "Diljit Dosanjh's switch in singing style as he smoothly assumes Amar Singh Chamkila's vocal persona highlights the brilliance of his artistry." Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the film 4 stars out of 5 and noted, "The film is mournful and festive, animated and pensive, consciously crafted and seemingly spontaneous." Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express rated the film 4/5 and wrote, "Diljit Dosanjh internalises Amar Singh Chamkila’s hard-scrabble life and pain, and distills it into his fine-grained performance, playing an artiste who lived and died by his beliefs."

Conversely, Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in called it a "choppy narrative that tries a bit too hard to jazz up a simple storyline."