Diljit Dosanjh on ‘Amar Singh Chamkila’ and International Collabs

With the release of Imtiaz Ali’s biopic Amar Singh Chamkila on Netflix today, a new narrative of sorts gets built around the titular character, essayed by singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh. Joined by Parineeti Chopra (who plays Chamkila’s wife Amarjot), the film also features music by composing legend A.R. Rahman.

All in all, it’s a heavy-hitter project for Dosanjh – who was, around this time last year, performing at Coachella festival in the U.S. in what became a landmark set. As part of a general press round, Dosanjh fielded questions about the making of Chamkila, how he doesn’t really think back to Coachella and is only moving forward. Excerpts:

According to you, why should people watch Amar Singh Chamkila?

I personally feel that everyone knows about Chamkila, but if there’s someone out there who hasn’t heard of him, it’s a very interesting story. It’s not that it’s just an artist’s story, but about a human being, his journey and what he experiences through time. [It’s set] in the Eighties [and] it shows a lot about what Punjab was like and what the atmosphere was [in the country]. It’s not a fictional story, but a true story. You’ll get a lot to learn, about Chamkila. I think those who are fans of Chamkila will watch it anyway.

What drew you to the role and what was the prep like to play the ‘Elvis of Punjab’?

For us, Chamkila is held in higher regard than Elvis. There was a lot more prep for [director] Imtiaz Ali. In his mind, he had a clear idea about how to represent Chamkila. I followed his lead. I had an idea about how he [Chamkila] behaved, talked, performed. I don’t copy anyone in my acting, but when I’m doing a biopic like this, I had to take on his characteristics and stay true to that.

Were you influenced by Chamkila’s music?

100 percent, I was inspired by his compositions and the style he sang in. Put aside the choice of lyrics, it’s his personal choice, his pronunciation also was so clear that you could understand everything he was singing. I’m a fan of all those things about it. He’s a scientist in that sense.

What was it like working with Parineeti Chopra?

I didn’t expect it, the way Parineeti owned playing Amarjot’s character. She sang her songs – it’s very difficult to sing like Amarjot. She had a unique voice, just like Chamkila. We can’t even sing two percent like them. Those folks are gone but I was astounded that Parineeti could do this, because she’s not raised in Punjab and lived that everyday life, but she tried so hard and put her all into this project. It exceeded my expectations.

What can you tell us about the songs you have sung for the film, whose soundtrack is helmed by A.R. Rahman?

I asked him [Rahman] at first, ‘How will these songs be presented and how will people understand it?’ Then I understood that we were going to sing his songs on stage in the film. It’s edited in a way that you get to understand what Chamkila is singing about on stage. In the rest of the film, the background songs are all new which Imtiaz sir worked on with Rahman sir, which Irshad Kamil has written. They’re lovely songs.

Imtiaz Ali has said that Chamkila is about an eternal love story between a musician and his music. What do you think about that?

100 percent. I agree with that. You get to see the passion of Chamkila throughout the movie and his journey. I think music lovers – and I think every person on earth loves music, whether it’s someone who listens during their office commute, going to or at the gym, or after downing two pegs – will understand that this is the story of music. I think everyone will love it.

How do you think the film will do in terms of honoring and preserving Chamkila’s legacy?

I think people will get to know him deeper through the medium of this film. It’s almost like a schooling – of his personal life, his songs and how he thought and behaved.

It’s going to come up to a year since you performed at Coachella. It was a landmark moment for you and Indian music. It feels like you and your team had a lot planned based on the success of those shows, right? How do you look back on all that came to fruition?

I think that’s done now. I never look back and think about it. I just look forward.

In the weeks after Coachella, you were in the studio with a lot of big artists like Sia, A Boogie wit Da Hoodie, Saweetie, NLE Choppa and others. Is that part of a project that’ll see the light of day soon, or was it something to test the waters at the time?

These songs are all done and they’re going to keep coming out one by one. The first song with Sia is out, ‘Hass Hass,’ the song with Saweetie came next [‘Khutti’] and the one after that is the song with NLE Choppa and then the one with A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie. These are singles and I tried collaborating with all these folks and the songs will keep coming out gradually.

Punjabi music has had a very powerful influence on Bollywood and mainstream music in India. Do you feel some kind of responsibility as a Punjabi artist to keep pushing the boundaries so that it shapes the next movement/era in Indian modern music?

If you think about it as a responsibility, that’s some heavy-lifting stuff. I think it’s best to keep doing your work and God will take care of the rest.

What else is coming up in 2024?

There’s a Punjabi film called Jatt and Juliet coming out and then there’s this film. If it gets censored then one more film will come out [laughs].