Amar Singh Chamkila Review: An immersive journey into the life and legacy of a true musical icon
Amar Singh Chamkila Movie Rating: 3.5 Stars
Watched Amar Singh Chamkila movie on Netflix. Let’s focus on the complete details, story, positive/negatives and at last my personal view on this movie.
Cast: Diljit Dosanjh, Parineeti Chopra, Apinderdeep Singh, Nisha Bano, Rahul Mittra
Director: Homi Adajania
Release Date: 15th March 2024 on Netflix
Story: Set in 1977, Amar Singh (Diljit Dosanjh) knits socks in a factory for a living. But he wants to be a musician. He meets dholak player Tikki (Anjum Batra) in Ludhiana and asks him to enlist him in the team of popular singer Jatinder Jinda (Udaybir Sandhu). Jatinder likes him for his personality and raunchy lyrics, and he becomes a part of the troupe.
One day at a show in Chandigarh, Jinda was late, and the crowd gets restless. The manager Kashmiri Lal (Ankit Sagar) asks Amar Singh to perform after Tikki suggestion as no other options left. He gives a mesmerizing performance that is loved by the audience. A few days later, Jinda vanishes to Canada. Kashmiri decides to replace him with Chamkila. He and a veteran singer Sonia (Nisha Bano) become a hit in the performance circuit. They also cut an album which is much loved.
After a fight with Kashmiri Lal over wages, Chamkila goes independent. He also faces trouble in finding a female singer due to the ‘vulgar’ lyrics. One day, he comes across Amarjot Kaur (Parineeti Chopra) and she expresses the desire to join him, that too with her family’s permission. Chamkila and Amarjot become a hit Jodi. Soon, Chamkila emerges as the most popular singer in Punjab ever. But with fame comes a lot of risk. A section of society is unhappy with the choice of words in the lyrics.
He also gets threats. On top of that, he has hidden a terrible secret from Amarjot, Tikki and others. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
Positives
1. Performances
2. Story
3. Direction
4. Music
5. Dialogues
Negatives
1. Length
2. Screenplay
3. Climax
Durgesh Tiwary’s View: When I watched the trailer of this film planned to watch this movie in my free time as trailer looks good in parts only but it’s based on real incident.
It is a musical-biopic-drama that digs deep into the short yet eventful life of the controversial singer that Amar Singh Chamkila was, from the time he started gaining recognition as a side-act, to the time he was shot dead, along with his second wife Amarjot Kaur and other band members, while performing in Punjab.
Amar Singh Chamkila story tracing the rise from a struggling singer to a national and international phenomenon. It starts from his love for singing in his childhood. Their story is so marvelous that it sucks the audience into the singer’s life as if they were a part of his family. The duo deserves distinction marks for the research that has gone into the screenplay as well as their style of writing the screenplay. The drama is narrated in flashback after Chamkila and his wife are gunned down, but the flashback is narrated through the eyes of several people simultaneously. His complete confidence in himself and his ‘arrogance’ as a singer is juxtaposed with his simplicity and down-to-earth behaviour; his bold nature is shown going hand-in-hand with his immense fear of losing his life and/or his superstardom; his naughtiness, evident in his obscene lyrics, and his straightforwardness in his behaviour make for strange characteristics in a single person. But they all are so beautifully written that one can’t help but admire the screenplay. The love story of Amar Singh and Amarjot is so subtly written that it becomes a delightful experience to witness the budding romance which ultimately culminates in their marriage. It is nice to see Chamkila run after money, yet remain grounded, fully aware that he can make hay while the sun shines. Imtiaz Ali’s direction is phenomenal. He has narrated the subject in such a fantastic manner that you fall in love with Chamkila, his story and everything about him. Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra does an outstanding job as lead.
On the flipside, Songs are an integral part of the story, and they drive the film forward. You need to be more attentive and follow these songs; otherwise, there is a chance that you may get disconnected, too. As the entire film is based on songs, a few scenes might seem repetitive and boring. The team could have removed a couple of song sequences to make the movie look even better, and doing so would have increased the film’s reach. At times, the pacing dips in the mid portions. The assassination episode that is used to bind the story, ends up becoming just another event in the life of Chamkila. A sharper and racier treatment could have made the movie a much more entertaining watch.
Not just those who know about Amar Singh Chamkila but also those who do not know anything about this Punjabi singer will surely enjoy this film, as it is narrated in an entertaining and informative manner. The back-and-forth screenplay is gripping for the most part and is filled with songs throughout. My view on this movie Highly Recommended.
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