Imtiaz Ali Reveals If It Wasn't For Diljit Dosanjh, He Wouldn't Ever Make Chamkila - Here's Why

Imtiaz Ali is gearing up for the release of his highly anticipated directorial Chamkila, starring Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra. The film is based on the Punjabi singer Amar Singh Chamkila who was shot dead at the age of 27. During one of the promotional interactions, the director revealed that Chamkila wouldn't have been made without Diljit Dosanjh.

Why did Imtiaz Ali sign Diljit Dosanjh?

Speaking to Film Companion, Ali shared that if the Punjabi singer hadn't been there or if he wasn't around to play the titular role then he wouldn't have made the movie. “If Diljit wouldn’t have been there or if he wasn’t around to play this part, I don’t think that the movie would have been made at all and definitely not in the way it was made," he said. Adding to it, he shared that the reason he was looking for an actor who could also sing was because, in the movie, they recorded all the songs live.

"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," he concluded.

Imtiaz Ali says he listened to Amar Singh Chamkila’s songs to understand his psyche

The director said that he was fascinated by Chamkila's approach to music, which he treated as a "friend, an escape route from reality, and as something that empowered him". He added that to him, this film is like a relationship between Chamkila and music. The other thing is how non-intellectual his approach was as far as his own life was concerned. He gave no argument or justification for his music. Also, he paid the price with his life.

For the uninitiated, Amar Singh Chamkila was known for making songs with underlined sexual innuendos, extramarital affairs, drug abuse and alcohol use. A part of the society even deemed the music to be ‘vulgar’.  Despite the flak, Chamkila gained popular footing not just in Punjab but in the Punjabi-speaking diaspora across the globe. He remains one of the best live performers ever produced from the state.

Amar Singh Chamkila is set to release on Netflix on April 12.