Diljit Dosanjh shares why he was skeptical about Bollywood making a biopic on Chamkila

Imtiaz Ali's much-awaited film 'Amar Singh Chamkila' is all set to release on Netflix on April 12. Ahead of its release, Diljit Dosanjh shared that he was initially skeptical about Bollywood making a biopic on Chamkila as he believed that a film on legendary Punjabi singer 'couldn't be made in Hindi'. He added that he was convinced to do the film with Imtiaz because his perspective was different from the film he had made, titled Jodi.

At the Netflix press event, Diljit Dosanjh revealed, ‘I thought I knew a lot about Chamkila, before I met Imtiaz sir. Humein jab pata chala ki Bollywood mein film bann rahi hai Chamkila, toh humein laga ki ye kya banayenge? Hum banayenge, humne Jodi film banayi hai, jiske humein rights nahi mile toh humne fiction bana di (When I got to know that Bollywood was making Chamkila’s biopic, I thought, ‘how would they even make it?’ We will make it. And we did exactly that with the movie, Jodi). I thought they wouldn’t be able to make it. So when the pandemic hit, Jodi could not be released and that is when I got a call from Imtiaz Ali sir. I thought he was going to sue us. But he said he wanted to cast me in his film.’

He added, ‘But when I heard his perspective, it was totally different. It was Chamkila’s story, and that story, even I didn’t know that well. Amar Singh Chamkila wrote his own music, played it on his own and even performed it on stage. So the fact that such a big film was going to be made on Chamkila was a matter of great pride for me and my people. I just surrendered to the vision of Imtiaz Ali sir.’

The movie recounts the untold true tale of Punjab's original rockstar, Amar Singh Chamkila, dubbed the 'Elvis Presley of Punjab'. Shot on authentic sites, it immerses viewers in Punjab's folk music scene, including rustic Akhadaas where Chamkila's voice resonated. Parineeti Chopra stars as Amarjot, Chamkila's spouse and musical collaborator.