Amar Singh Chamkila Movie Review | Review of the film Amar Singh Chamkila directed by Imtiaz Ali dgtl

Imtiaz Ali’s new film ‘Amar Singh Chamkila’ released on an OTT platform a few days ago. Since then, the film has been trending on the OTT platform. This film is basically a ‘biopic’ of singer Amar Singh Chamkila, who was anointed as ‘Punjab’s Elvis Presley’. Imtiaz tells the story of Amar Singh, a very common singer from Anama village in Punjab who became a proverb. And after that he showed the incident where he and his wife Amarjot were shot dead by miscreants. Watching the film reminded me of the recent stabbing of famous writer Salman Rushdie in the eye. One of his eyes has also been blinded by misdeeds. Rushdie recalls the incident in his recently published book ‘Knife’. In other words, from Amar Singh Chamkila of the eighties to today’s Salmon Rushdie, artists continue to be attacked. Playwright and director Safdar Hashmi’s death during the performance also comes to mind in this context. But the question remains, can it stop the industry? Can the artist’s voice be suppressed?

For ages, artists have fallen into the wrath of society by making music. Sometimes by playing the guitar or sometimes by making rap songs, they have kept an eye on the ruler. Remembering the loss of the Chilean musician Bhiktar. He was brutally killed by the fascist rulers. A few days ago, I saw in the film ‘Golly Boy’, how the language of the lower class of the society is breaking the limits of politeness and becoming the message of the song. I was reminded of all these things while watching the story of Amar Singh Chamkila. From protest songs to Halfil’s rap songs, Imtiaz’s film pays tribute to all songs.

The director was saying in an interview about this film, who will decide what will be the language of an artist’s song? Society, or artists? This question comes up again and again in the case of Amar Singh, a man working in this extraordinary sock factory (the real man worked as an electrician). He was made a legend called ‘Chamkila’. And the difference between an artist and five people is that he does not accept the rules of society. Make your own rules. Chamkila also did not accept the precepts of the conservatives of the society. As his songs gradually became popular, he ignored the praise of the social organizers. Breaking the rules of the village morals, he married a second time and again and again gave priority to his singing, disregarding the various classes of power in Punjab. Because, music has taken him from the most common town of Punjab to the court of the world. He has written without correcting the human language. It was filled with the voices of passers-by. There his song has become the song of people. What a strange ending, the ‘Elvis of Punjab’ Amar Singh has become more famous in his lifetime than his childhood ‘idol’ Amitabh Bachchan. An expatriate organizer also admitted this in the film. As a result, he must pay the price! So at the end of the film, he uprooted fear and reputation. Hence, the orthodox conservative extremist Punjabi society is forced to block him. But there was stubbornness in his eyes from the first day. However, his songs were killed despite that?

Looking at the time period of the film, it can be assumed that the separatist movement in Punjab took root in the name of Khalistani movement. It is assumed that Amar Singh and his wife were shot by Khalistani militants. Although the edge of this death has not happened till today. Instead of a traditional biopic, Imtiaz used animation and stills in this film to move forward and backward. So every frame of the picture becomes interesting. Amar Singh Chamkila’s songs were so popular in the remote rural areas of Punjab that even women would climb on the roofs of old houses to listen to them. That way one day the roof of a house collapsed. Several people were injured. The director has incorporated all these small details with such care that it has made the film very believable. After angering the conservatives, Amar Singh is forced to sing devotional and patriotic songs one day, but it does not touch people. They want to hear the same catchy old songs over and over again, whether it’s a neighborhood gathering or a wedding. In front of the audience in a huge crowd, Amar gathered all his courage to sing the song once again.

Singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh played the role of Amar Singh and Parineeti Chopra played the role of his second wife. As Diljit is a regular singer of this generation, he looks very natural in this role. When he came to his father and told him that he would pursue music as a profession and the supply of expensive liquor would not stop there or when his respect for his important artist gradually increased, still the impression of not forgetting his normal past life was caught on his face again and again. So, despite being a more famous actress, her joint song presentation with Parineeti or the love around her is not unusual at all. The greatest quality of Imitiaz’s films is that he believes in making the story sincere rather than intellectualizing it. This film is no exception.

Many rare songs of Amar Singh Chamkila were played again in this film after many days. The songs were recorded in history. In today’s movies or serials, the village has almost been erased, the way in which the rural life of Punjab is shown in detail in this film is very good. So through the story of a ‘common man’ of Aaj Paragaon, the director has once again brought back the simple lost faith of people. Because, the extremism of the seventies and eighties has taken a stronger look all over the country today. And, today’s ban on immortal lions is increasing and killing Akshara is a waste of money, such is the state’s anger! This picture quietly spoke of a courage, which neither the state nor the media can suppress the artist. Bursting like gunpowder, it will dazzle for ages. Say, a big big ‘no’. That is, ‘I don’t agree.’