Imtiaz Ali delivers a moving biopic of Punjabi music legend Amar Singh Chamkila, with AR Rahman's powerful score and Diljit Dosanjh's nuanced performance elevating the film. Expect a thought-provoking exploration of art, caste, and a life tragically cut short.
The Good
- Nuanced biopic
- Discerning narrative
- A.R. Rahman's music
The Bad
- Reptitive
- Abstract
In 2011, Imtiaz Ali explored a man’s complex and emotional journey to pursue his artistic dreams in his musical Tour de Force Rock Star (which had smashing music from AR Rahman). In Rock Star, Imtiaz Ali’s protagonist was Janardhan ‘JJ’ Jakhar, a small-town boy obsessed with becoming a musical superstar.
In that sense, Amar Singh Chamkila, a Hindi movie on Netflix, has the same vibe as it is also about a troubled music maker, except for the crucial difference: AMC is already a Punjabi musical icon (now sadly slain).
Both Amar Singh Chamkila and Rockstar show that Imtiaz Ali is among the directors who understand the complex minds of musicians. And both films also establish his ability to wangle the best out of AR Rahman, whose score for AMC is among his best in recent times. The Madras of Mozart hits it out of the park as his songs, and the background score elevate the film to great heights.
The beauty of Rahman’s music is that Chamkila is a well-established musician. There are countless of his songs, and most music directors would have settled for them by tweaking them a bit.
While the film does have AMC’s songs (and Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra sing them), there are other songs that capture the zeitgeist of Punjab’s legendary Dalit singer in a manner that does justice to his talent and pays homage to him befittingly. That is why Rahman is as much a hero in this film as Diljit Dosanjh, who plays the eponymous AMC.
As many of you may know, AMC and his wife Amrjot (Parineeti Chopra) were shot by masked gunmen as they (belonging to the Dalit community) had spiritedly defied many of the established norms of the Punjabi society.
When he was killed, AMC was just 27, at the top of his creative prowess. The man had a great career ahead of him. But through his short but glittering musical career, AMC struck a powerful chord with the Punjabi public as music had a raw heft. It appealed to your emotional as well as cerebral side.
Even if they faced the charge of objectifying women, his music also had passion, which is the hallmark of any good art. He was born in a caste treated badly by social elites, so his music had a strong rebellious streak. His art was all chutzpah, and that is what Imtiaz Ali’s film captures in a discerning sort of way.
Through the life and times of Amar Singh Chamkila, Imtiaz Ali asks all the right questions and smartly leaves the answers to be figured out by ourselves. And that is what nuanced filmmaking is all about. The film also smartly uses Chamkila’s killing as a fulcrum to move forward and back in time and understand the artist and his art. The film also gets into the larger question of censorship (through social bullying), caste discrimination, and what art is.
Besides Rahman, his able ally is Diljit Dosanjh, who brings a complex character to an easy understanding. AMC’s life was controversy-filled and tumultuous, and Diljit’s performance brings out and showcases the artist’s inner turmoil. Parineeti, as his wife too, fits the bill adequately.
Through the story of the effervescent Amar Singh Chamkila, Imtiaz Ali also paints the broad contours of Punjabi society in the 80s and 90s with its political turmoil. It is a tragic tale told with compassion and insight.
The Hindi film Amar Singh Chamkila is streaming on Netflix.