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Though the story is about a Punjabi artist, the movie has been made in Hindi, and director Imtiaz Ali has his fair share of reasons to do so. While talking to ETimes exclusively, Imtiaz Alis shared, “I feel that I would want a larger number of people to see it, I would want the whole world to watch this film. This is not unique to Punjab or India. It is a universal story.”
Amar Singh Chamkila | Song – Naram Kaalja
He further mentioned the 27 Club, which is an informal list of artists, and musicians who tragically died at the age of 27, when they were at the peak of their career. The list has only one Indian name, and that is Amar Singh Chamkila.
“I feel these kinds of lyrics being sung, and people paying a price for it is actually a very Westernized concept. I am sure that if we manage to do a good job of making this film, then people all around the world might be interested. So would I have been interested in making it as a Punjabi film? No. It would have been a waste of an opportunity. I made it in Hindi because it would have a larger reach,” he added.
Having said that, Ali made sure to keep the Punjabi flavour in the music of the film, in the way
Chamkila is presented. Talking about the same, he said, “There are extremely interesting and innovative ideas of how to bring out the meaning of what is being sung. What I have done is, I have kept the authentic lyrics and songs of Chamkila.”
“We have Diljit singing them in as authentic an accent as possible, as he is also from a small village. But, we have interesting ways of retelling the same way in Hindi and English too, to cater to non-Punjabi speaking audiences. We have shot keeping that in mind,” he concluded.
Starring Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra in lead roles, ‘Chamkila’ will make its OTT debut on April 12, 2024.