“Amar Singh Chamkila”
Imtiaz Ali is back after ‘Love Aaj Kal 2’ , he will be directing a film called Amar Singh Chamkila. The movie stars Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra in leading roles. Filmmaker has recently told in an interview that his upcoming movie is a biopic and it is authentic. He also revealed that it is not fictional story . Movie will be stream direct on Netflix from 12 April. Later in the interview he also revealed reason behind directing this biographical drama.
Imtiaz’s interview
In his interview, Imtiaz explained that he stayed authentic and true to the story and how much of the film is based on the fiction. He said, “As far as I know, it’s completely authentic and true. I have not taken any shortcuts. I have not made any scenes out of my imagination. I have tried to be very authentic for my own sake because I feel that I always make films by imagination, but how would this film be different from the others for me? Also, as a filmmaker, when you go out looking for the truth, you end up knowing more dramatic things.”
Biopic
The ‘Rockstar’ director also revealed that he never thought of making a biopic. Explaining further, he said, “I have never made a biopic before. But I would often hear about Amar Singh Chamkila through my friends, especially from my production head Rajesh Sharma. He would always say that I should make a film on the singer. In fact, he was the first person who told me about Chamkila.”
He continued, “Then, I started listening to his music and found many things interesting about him. Finally, six years back, around the release of ‘Love Aaj Kal 2’, a gentleman called Harpreet, had the rights to the film Chamkila, which was very difficult to get. For some reason, he felt that he should approach me to direct this film. I did ask him ‘why did you come to me to make this film?’. I am not even from Punjab, and he said ‘Aap ki film mein Punjab bahut his khoobsurati se dekha ya jata hain’ (In your films, Punjab is portrayed beautifully). It took five years because I did not have much knowledge about Chamkila. Then, Covid happened, and I was visiting Punjab with Chamkila at back of my mind. I started listening to the stories of the singer and it got interesting. I had my own view and story to tell through Chamkila and that’s when I decided to make the film ” .
Diljit as Amar Singh Chamkila
Imtiaz said that he wanted to make this movie with Diljit Dosanjh only. “If Diljit wouldn’t have been there or if he wasn’t around to play this part. I don’t think this movie wouldn’t have been made at all definitely not in the way it was made. For one thing I wanted the actor to sing the part, looking for an actor singer because all the songs of Chamkila that we have done in this film have been naturally recorded live”.