Amar Singh Chamkila: A star shining bright snuffed out for unknown reasons (2024)

[00:00:00] Hi, Welcome to Onmanorama Movie Podcast, Start, Action, Cut. Today we are decoding the movie

[00:00:20] Amasin Chamkeela. It's a Hindi movie. It's actually a biographical movie based on the

[00:00:27] real life of musician Amasin Chamkeela. The movie is directed by Imdia Zali and the film

[00:00:33] stars Diljit Dosanj and Paranithi Chopra in the lead. Today Kanan is joining us to discuss

[00:00:41] the movie. First of all Kanan, I would like to point out the narrative style. You can

[00:00:46] see the climax in the first scene itself and then you go back to view the film from

[00:00:52] the beginning in a combination of flashbacks and real time. So, do you think that it was

[00:00:57] a risky way to tell a story as you know the climax already? And don't you think it's

[00:01:03] tough to view scenes back and forth to keep it alive and engaging? What do you say?

[00:01:08] Yeah, as you mentioned, it starts with the climax. It starts with the death of the

[00:01:14] two protagonists. As one of the reviewers pointed out later, after that the story

[00:01:20] follows in a very linear narrative pattern. But I think, yes, it is a risky adventure to

[00:01:28] start a story with the ending but then why the ending was there? Why was it there? How

[00:01:35] where the makers stand are revealed through the course of the film? So, where his sympathy

[00:01:44] stands, where the film basically stands. Everything is there during the course of the

[00:01:50] film, the narrative. So, yes it is risky but has Cynthia Silly pulled that off? I think he has

[00:01:58] done an excellent job of pulling that off. I think this was one of the Hindi movies I quite

[00:02:04] absolutely loved watching. He hit it out of the park particularly considering the fact that

[00:02:10] the last Hindi movie I tried watching was Anima. So, I can't even compare that to.

[00:02:17] So, yeah absolutely loved the movie. Absolutely loved the way he narrated the movie. The intermingling

[00:02:25] of the real photos, the real performances then suddenly switching into a graphical way of saying

[00:02:34] then suddenly coming back to the real thing and using the breaking the fourth wall quite

[00:02:40] absolutely brilliantly. He has done a wonderful job. Yes, it was risky but he has successfully

[00:02:46] managed to pull it off. Yeah, yes I think even then he could keep alive the emotional depth.

[00:02:55] You know that what happened to them? Actually it's based on the real life story, real lives of

[00:03:02] the Punjabi singer Amar Singh and his wife Amar Jyoth. Yet what else do you get from the whole

[00:03:10] episode? And then you move back even though it was a steady rise for him, a person who actually

[00:03:18] did a job as a Chamar I mean a cobbler. Then from there he had that musical instincts in him

[00:03:26] and with that he was very confident and he was very ambitious about spreading his

[00:03:33] musical talent and he was successful in it. But I don't know is there any other way to

[00:03:39] narrate the story? Whether it would be as you said India's early really pulled it off.

[00:03:46] But was there any other narratives? I think this is the most memorable film that I have watched

[00:03:52] in this way. Like you see the death of the protagonist and then you go back to their past

[00:03:59] and then leave the whole film through being inside it and riding with their emotional journey.

[00:04:07] What do you say? Oh, but this is not the first time somebody has started with the

[00:04:12] climax and went back. There have been many movies including Hollywood movies. I don't remember

[00:04:17] the names but there have been many. I think seven private try and also started with the death

[00:04:23] basically of the person who saved private trying. Then it went back to the incident and then it

[00:04:28] came back to the death. Say even Titanic in one way started with that. We knew what happened

[00:04:37] to Titanic. We knew what really went through it. Then Cameron reconstructed the story.

[00:04:44] Similar way, India also did the same thing. There's nothing new to it. But what brilliant

[00:04:51] that it did, we know that somebody did it in real life too. I'm very sorry but I knew nothing

[00:04:58] about Chamkela till I saw this movie. Then I went about reading it, watched a baby scene to

[00:05:05] be with Amarjot's elder sister. Then many people recounting the stories even the grandson

[00:05:12] of Surinder Sonia. Surinder Sonia also spoke about Chamkela. I know only after watching this movie.

[00:05:20] I had no clue about such a popular singer in Punjab. From all the stories that we get is that

[00:05:28] he's such a popular guy, such an iconic figure and we know what happened to him. We don't know

[00:05:34] for the last 36 years. We don't know who killed Amarjot in Chamkela but we know somebody

[00:05:40] did. We know there are different conspiracy theories to it. As we know that, that is the end

[00:05:47] point. Then we start from the beginning and to reach a climax point where he ends it with saying

[00:05:56] Vidakar, I'm leaving this world with that brilliant song by Aramant. So I think this was

[00:06:05] one wonderful way of saying it. Why? Because I think rather than saying that a man from a very

[00:06:14] lower strata of the society, one account says that he was an electrician. The film says that he was

[00:06:20] working in a factory making socks. But then he had this inborn talent of singing and inborn

[00:06:30] talent of writing lyrics, maybe a bit lewd, maybe a bit not comfortable for a very, very

[00:06:39] puritanic society but people liked it. So that kind of a man if you were to say that story from a

[00:06:45] young age how he grew up to become a singer but I would have taken the whole soul of the whole

[00:06:52] movie, the whole story. Now starting at the end gave him the acely that poignant moment

[00:06:59] to say like people like me who didn't even know who Chamkeela was was shocked into saying that

[00:07:05] oh this happened. Now why? That curiosity he developed and sustained through the movie,

[00:07:12] that was brilliant. So I kind of like this narrative. Yes as you said Chamkeela rose up

[00:07:19] from lower strata in society and then with his own talent and basically he wrote

[00:07:25] as you said the Luyid and Lecheros lyrics. The whole thing has been shown in the film itself

[00:07:33] that the lyrics that he wrote were not agreeable to the puritan civil society but actually

[00:07:40] the crowds that gathered at his shows showed how much they loved his songs. So there was that

[00:07:48] dichotomy. I mean the people actually inside they loved the songs but outside they didn't approve them.

[00:07:56] So he had that threat from the very beginning to quit writing or saying such songs but

[00:08:03] he was actually not that an indecent fellow. He did it for the people, for his audience so that

[00:08:09] we see from the very beginning itself. So now the story hinges mainly on the protagonist

[00:08:17] that is Diljit's performance and I think that was speculous and he himself being a singer

[00:08:25] he made it very simple for himself. The way he sings, the way he plays,

[00:08:30] Tumbi the instrument and his demeanor everything was well pitched and well and I think that was

[00:08:36] very remarkable and that left me speechless watching the whole film. How was the performance

[00:08:42] of the film in this movie for you, Garnak? Yeah I quite like the performance. I quite like Diljit

[00:08:48] as well as Paranithi doing their roles and they both sing their songs. Then again going back to one

[00:08:56] part of the narrative. One big thing about the narrative is the motives. One big motive is

[00:09:03] Amitabh Bachchan. The moment he cuts his hair from a safe turban he cuts hair in the fashion

[00:09:10] of Amitabh Bachchan. Later when he goes to Toronto, Canada for a concert, he sees Amitabh Bachchan's

[00:09:18] big poster, a large poster hanging up over the sky. He is told that you're performing the same

[00:09:24] plays that Amitabh performed but he out sells Amitabh. So that kind of a narrative is there

[00:09:31] from and in one of the wonderful scenes he speaks to a journalist who said why do you

[00:09:39] write such lyrics? And he said I'm a small person and people from a small village, from a small

[00:09:45] people like us who are the majority like such songs. Now why does he write such songs? There is also

[00:09:54] wonderful in the opening montages we are given to understand that he used to listen to a lot of

[00:10:03] stories from his mother. His mother used to enjoy it. His neighbors used to have such

[00:10:09] fights about extramarital affairs. So he just went on to write such songs and one of the

[00:10:17] songs translated is that one of the songs when women sing cut a forest with a small

[00:10:23] sickle that he had. So such a very lewd references to sexuality, to sexual organs.

[00:10:32] Everybody used to sing in privates. Everybody used to sing before sangh. Everybody used to sing

[00:10:37] when they were alone in their houses. He just took that and took it to the stage and opened it up

[00:10:44] and everybody loved it. Everybody loved it in one of the again one of the scenes of militant group

[00:10:51] come to his home and before threatening him with his life they say that oh I loved your song

[00:10:59] I love this song I love that song but you should stop. So now that was a kind of time that they

[00:11:05] were living in Punjab after the death of Indira Gandhi after Operation Blue Star and after the

[00:11:12] death of Indira Gandhi. There were a lot of strife people were talking about Khalisaan again,

[00:11:18] people were talking about self-determination of Sikhs again. So the puritanical society again

[00:11:26] gained upper hand in such a talk. Yet the simple man that Chamkeela addressed to wanted such songs

[00:11:36] they didn't want him to sing the devotional songs that Chamkeela and Amarjot sang. There were three

[00:11:43] LPs later found out that they released three LPs which were again very successful but nobody

[00:11:50] wanted to listen to that song. So everybody though they in a modest way showed a very cultured manicured

[00:12:02] face for the outside world inside they wanted Chamkeela, inside they wanted his songs, inside

[00:12:08] they loved his songs. So that way we know by the songs by the narrative we know where Imtiaz Ali's

[00:12:17] sympathy is like. We also love Chamkeela by the end of it. Now one another wonderful narrative is that

[00:12:25] when he sings in Punjabi, he sings in Punjabi and the lyrics is written in English, the Hindi

[00:12:31] lyrics equivalent Hindi lyrics are written in English on screen and because we are

[00:12:37] watching on OTT or Netflix and we have the option of putting on the subtitles,

[00:12:44] we also get the meaning of that word. So in that way, lot many people are engrossed,

[00:12:50] lot many people can enjoy this film. So narrative also plays a wonderful part in

[00:12:56] bringing the Chamkeela story alive. Yeah I would like to add to what you had said earlier about

[00:13:03] Milton's first thing. I mean I appreciate Chamkeela before issuing the thread on the same

[00:13:09] lines. Towards the climax also the police inspector, I mean the police officer, the senior police officer

[00:13:17] when he goes back home he listens to what his son, I mean that's the way how people used to

[00:13:23] listen to such songs in their privacy and he knows what his son was listening to and then

[00:13:31] drops in and then he allows him and tells him that sometimes you can listen to if you feel

[00:13:38] like I mean this Chamkeela songs. Sorry there is also one more wonderful exchange between

[00:13:44] the police officer, they bring him forward the narrative is that the police officer coming in

[00:13:50] basically, coming and asking why somebody would kill a single like Chamkeela. So when they're

[00:13:56] talking his subordinates go on saying some very sweet stuff about the SP and the SP's

[00:14:05] reply is that it now is Makarna laga ho ki haath andhar khus jaoge. This is

[00:14:13] weirdest and the most lewdest way of answering your subordinate but that's very private

[00:14:20] but out well he talks about yeah he wrote that such very weird lyrics and he should get the karma

[00:14:27] just beat him back kind of stuff that he's talking to Chamkeela's followers. Those were the

[00:14:34] private things. Chamkeela just put it from the stage everybody loved it. Actually they never wanted

[00:14:40] to see it in the open maybe they might enjoy them in private but actually I personally believe that

[00:14:48] since the mystery the whole episode has not been investigated I mean cracked. I feel that it's

[00:14:56] not it may not be the militants or some others. I think it's somebody who was not at ease with his

[00:15:04] rise to stardom must have done the crime. Yeah those are the two conspiracy theory. One is that

[00:15:11] it was a contract killing that by other singers who were also popular but not as popular as

[00:15:17] Chamkeela and Amanjol. The other is that militants, violence and militants nobody knows

[00:15:24] because for the last 30 it happened in 88. The film also tells you one thing that the whole rise and

[00:15:32] the moniker that he is Elvis of Punjab, Punjab, Haryana, US and Canada and all places

[00:15:40] he attained that in 11 years and the man died at 86, 88 when he was killed he was only 26.

[00:15:48] Now that is one area where I found Diljit Doshan he's 14 now in his real life normally he looks very

[00:15:58] lean and doesn't look 14 but somehow it didn't look 26 to me so that probably is only one

[00:16:08] flaw if you want to but then that again that can be absolutely overlooked.

[00:16:14] But myself personally I could match Diljit with Chamkeela in terms of that.

[00:16:20] Definitely I'm not saying that he did a wonderful job, he did an absolutely brilliant job of that

[00:16:27] character even so does Parineti Chopra because I bought some of the clips later of the real

[00:16:35] Amanjol and Chamkeela performing she nowhere in performance Parineti always looks down

[00:16:43] as if he did not do some one of the reviews said that as if she doesn't want the world to see her

[00:16:49] sing these kind of out-of-the-box lyrics but that's not the case. Amanjol was that kind of a detached

[00:16:56] look she had every time there were times when she was bluffing but then there was that detached

[00:17:02] look to her every time and Parineti matched it to the T not just in her appearance but even

[00:17:10] even in acting even while becoming that person again I loved it so much that I'm again going back

[00:17:17] to the narrative one narrative trick that Imtiaz Ali did he I think he borrowed the film of it

[00:17:25] Sajid Ali one wonderful thing that he did was I mean we have this weird juxtaposition of

[00:17:33] this actor is becoming the real person it's like for many people they don't know who Gandhi was but

[00:17:40] they knew who Ben Kingsley was so Ben Kingsley looked like Gandhi for many people that kind of

[00:17:47] a juxtaposition what he does in film when he brings that original photos and original things

[00:17:54] come together is that he's telling you in between without looking at us he's written

[00:18:01] that forth all and telling that this is just a story we are telling as in the first title card

[00:18:07] this is based loosely based on true narrative there are many news outlets came out with 10

[00:18:15] real facts and 10 flaws of the film but then he also said that he has taken a very creative

[00:18:21] liberty about it you know but then that we also raised the fact that those were real people

[00:18:28] and telling you a story about it yes Kanan what I would like to point out next is A.R. Rahman

[00:18:34] he's no doubt enthralling but the way he treated the BGM keeping to the Punjabi tone until now

[00:18:41] he's remarkable that's one thing and what's more praiseworthy is the way the original songs

[00:18:47] that have been left untouched yet the Rahman music comes in with its unique identity and then

[00:18:55] merges with the whole canvas seamlessly so seamlessly that you forget to distinguish between

[00:19:02] the Amar Singh, Chamgila songs and Rahman songs yet they are different and each of them are

[00:19:11] unique and so melodious and so exciting in their own merit so I have never seen

[00:19:19] A.R. Rahman doing some other language songs in this spectacular manner what do you say about

[00:19:26] the music and the songs in this movie by A.R. Rahman? Yeah I totally agree with you I agree also

[00:19:33] with Imtiaz Ali in one of the interviews Imtiaz Ali said that A.R. Rahman was one of the narrator

[00:19:39] or co-writer I totally agree with that this is not done by Imtiaz Ali or Sajid Ali

[00:19:47] A.R. Rahman also put in his absolute best one of the songs I think Ishmata A had a had a very

[00:19:54] A.R. Rahman aura to it but it's wonderfully written by Irshad Kamil all the songs are brilliant

[00:20:01] you know just the original songs retain its character by retaining the character and taking

[00:20:07] it away from where Chamgila sung and into a different altogether new adding a new layer to

[00:20:14] the songs here did a wonderful job absolutely wonderful job now even in the starting montage

[00:20:22] even in the first song I think the Baja is a song how it just sets the tone not just the

[00:20:31] not just the visuals even without seeing the film just listening to it we know where the

[00:20:40] story is what the story is and what the protagonists are saying what others are saying then the narrative

[00:20:46] is also set in the first opening not just opening credits in the opening song where one says that

[00:20:53] you know in a world of strife when everything when shooting was happening they came Chamgila who

[00:21:00] shown bright as a son in the night and then other people say that he used to sing sexy

[00:21:07] guitar and that kind of lyrics then the other narrative about him is that the other singers

[00:21:16] would say that that's it underlines the whole story when when one set of people liked him so

[00:21:27] much that he called him Chamgila who used to shine bright as a son others say he was a

[00:21:33] social pariah or social dirindai everybody even Ishaad Kamil who wrote the lyrics did a wonderful

[00:21:41] job with that with all the songs too sorry I'm fawning about this movie because I really love

[00:21:47] that movie yeah it's yeah I liked it's actually a good movie as of flows you had earlier mentioned

[00:21:53] about the age that didn't conform to the real age of Chamgila but I think he looked younger than

[00:22:01] the real Amar Singh then I saw those videos I don't know if I may be wrong but other than that

[00:22:08] so there is nothing much flows into it I think this is a very very well scripted and well planned

[00:22:14] movie and one thing I felt was it runs ahead with the pace with the high speed that was

[00:22:21] unwanted not in many places but at some places it was very hastily done I felt that way otherwise

[00:22:27] it's a good movie we can enjoy thoroughly let me just add to that the pace I think it was I think

[00:22:34] it was deliberate because as I said that life is just 11 years he rose to such a fame like no one else

[00:22:41] in Punjab those years so those rise was phenomenal that the rise was absolutely skyrocketing basically

[00:22:49] so the pace I thought was very very nice and it had that beautiful pace he did not lag anywhere

[00:22:58] it just went with a swift went with a flow yeah so kind of like one more thing about the whole movie

[00:23:05] where the sympathy stand is shown in that or given out in that last song Vidakaro yeah Vidakaro

[00:23:14] is encapsulates all what Impeazily been saying in this movie where the morality morality clashed with

[00:23:22] his songs it was only 26 no one gave him that benefit of doubt that probably had he went on to

[00:23:30] become 36 so what is he probably would have turned out to be a different than a singer than what he

[00:23:35] was 26 it was a boy I mean though he was a father of two he was practically finding his life out in at

[00:23:44] 26 so at Vidakaro which is again a wonderful soulful song he looks at every other and says it

[00:23:52] manu vidakaro give me permission to go I have to go to the other side

[00:23:57] sa bhi saaf sahi goomat mehla mein tum sabhi paak magar paak ka daria mein manu vidakaro

[00:24:06] so wonderful way of concluding how the moral side clash with a person who was just 26 and he

[00:24:14] was having the time of his life yes so it was a wonderful music we don't have so many musical

[00:24:21] musicals these days but this is a wonderful musical film and we can enjoy from the beginning to end

[00:24:28] in a very engrossing manner so that brings us to the end of this episode thanks for listening

[00:24:34] to start action cut produced and hosted by me Patmukh Maar with technical production by

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