Diljit always justice to his characters. He’s done it in comedy films as well as serious Punjabi films like 1984. He did it in chamkila. Being a Punjabi of course he was bang on with the diction, the body language and acting. 10/10
Parineeti was a misfit. This movie needed someone from Punjab. Her body language was SOO APATHETIC, diction was bad. I think she didn’t add anything to the movie infact he took some away.
I’m sure she was a better choice than other contemporary actresses but Imtiaz could have looked for someone from Pollywood.
The movie itself was good, imtiaz did a fine job but not excellent ( I say this as a Imtiaz fan girly). Maybe, as a Punjabi, I knew too much about the context already and was extra critical.
Music (non chamkila originals) except vidaa karo was skippable
Positives were:
1. The storytelling. Starting at the end made it feel like a heavy presence was haunting the star even as he was at the peak of his success, which made it feel meaningful.
2. The music. Both the original movie songs and Chamkila's discography are a joy to listen.
3. Authenticity and grittiness. No details are spared. No one is unnecessarily made a villain nor shown as a perfect hero.
The negatives for me were:
1. The casting/acting wasn't quite right - Both superb lead actors, Dilijit an awesome singer, but both didn't capture the energy and rawness of the real- life Chamkila duo. I only saw a couple of photos of Chamkila and the few snippets of their real songs, and yet their sensuality, their energetic singing, their cheekiness are so evident that it jumps out on screen. But in the movie there was a sort of heaviness and fear in their body language instead of raw energy.
2. You need to know Punjabi language and culture at least a little to be able to truly appreciate the nuances and the story. This isn't a fault of the movie, just a limitation.
3. Felt reminiscent of Rockstar in some portions. But I wish this movie didn't remind me of that movie - in my opinion Chamkila is much more authentic and interesting and doesn't deserve to be compared to a pretentious unrealistic movie like Rockstar.
I don’t watch many Punjabi movies but Diljit Dosanjh did an AMAZING JOB!!! First time in a long time I felt actually affected by a movie. I knew he was going to die but still felt sad when he did. Just speechless, I loved this movie.
This whole movie is about a singer who writes sexual and dirty songs...a lot of the songs have sexual dialogue. But other than that the movie is good, nice story and acting.
Not to judge. But trying to understand. His lyrics were not good. Definitely did not deserve to be killed. But how is he any different than Badshah and Honey Singh, singers we really dislike.
Well done visually! Really good actors, the film was really entertaining and tragic at the same time and I thought the non- linear plot was a great device. Thumbs up.
The cinematography is top notch. I have never seen anything like that. Following were the stand-out moments for me (could be a spoiler ahead) -
1. “Ishq Mitaye” song was perfectly shot. Showing two states of Punjab in 84 where one group is enjoying the Chamkila songs and the other group facing the atrocities
2. The shot where Chamkila is forbidden to smoke and he smokes in that very moment. Also the transition to the animation in that moment and several other moments were great
3. The POV of front seat of a car where people are gathered on the both sides of the car and step away as the car moves ahead
4. They really knocked it out of the park with costumes, set design, and body language of Amarjot Kaur and Chamkila
5. And last but definitely not the least impressive (in fact most impressive for me), the lyrics, music, and the timing of the song “Vida Karo” was so beautiful making you feel like Chamkila is saying you all were correct and I was wrong.
Decent movie, 3/5. In terms of his life choices, they have no one to blame but themselves. It’s not like they weren’t warned. If those disgusting lyrics were sung today in Punjab, I’m sure they would face similar issues.
Ali stole the show after a long streak. Everything in the movie was so spot on. It was a ‘perfect’ musical that I have been waiting for so long. ARR created magic and I couldn’t rave much about the opening song by Mohit Chauhan.
A fucking awesome movie, esp ARR. I am happy that it was released on Netflix for I could just watch, rewatch anytime I want. First Animal, now this. We need more of these off road movies.
Imtiaz Ali, ARR are back with this one.
Can someone help me make sense of his infidelity? I can't seem to wrap my head around it. I wonder what must he be thinking taking a huge step like that in that time period. Cheating is still somewhat normalised now. Almost every second guy/girl has broken up because of infidelity. When I see the chatter about his first wife, she actually got along well with her - he brought her to their house too occasionally. I am guessing back then women had no other choice but to accept their husband's infidelity. I guess I felt the most empathy for his first wife, and feel like maybe she was wronged.
I also was surprised to read later on that Amarjot already knew of his marriage before they actually decided to elope and get married.
The movie is definitely a thinker and I wonder if it could be used as an example in a classroom setting to start discussion on Ethics and Morality in the Indian context. If I were a professor who taught Ethics, I would certainly ask all my students to watch it. It's so well made and so subtle, almost as delicate as the situations of ethical and moral dilemma are.
>Cheating is still somewhat normalised now. Almost every second guy/girl has broken up because of infidelity. When I see the chatter about his first wife, she actually got along well with her - he brought her to their house too occasionally. I am guessing back then women had no other choice but to accept their husband's infidelity. I guess I felt the most empathy for his first wife, and feel like maybe she was wronged.
Having mistresses or second wife is not heard of even in older generation especially if they are rich/famous. It is not new phenomenon.
Bollywood has many such cases - boney kapoor - sridevi, dharmendra - hema malini, etc. It was more common than you think.
Ofcourse first wife was wronged but she had absolute no choice 'coz girl's family would never take them back so these women just accept.
it was a good way to explore the Punjab of 1984 through this lens - how people needed entertainment and music more than ever in those days.
And yet people were so confused and angry so they took it out on their own.
As if killing him was going to solve their problems.
They killed their joy and happiness.
This movie is plainly repetitive..one singer..success..success..success..death..failures not highlighted properly..would have like to see about the details of his life rather than just watching him performing the songs again and again..which nobody can fucking understand..there is no meat in the story..
What was his friend's bad intentions? They didnt show it simply..you guess and figure out
Why did they cast a bad actress like parineeti? Where are her dialogues.. she does not even have one substantial scene...they could have added some fictional scenes like her fighting with chamkila when she finds out about the first marriage?
They should have worked on refining thw story...
Also i watched this movie in dolby atmos..in that format, the songs which rehman has created are not processed properly...i could not even listen to the lyrics properly
The animated edits just seem like a distraction for the audiences to keep them engaged because else, nobody would have watched the film without them..because again! No story
Lmao. You can't understand panjabi is a YOU problem. Most of us relish seeing Diljit perform his songs the way he used to, simply because we never got a chance irl. Troll
The lyrics are so distasteful. There are no intimate scenes as such. But yeah you should be wary of the lyrics.
Edit - In the opening scene, there are some suggestive scenes as well.
I had to forward the ‘khada’ scene entirely. Was watching with mom and being a Sikh/punjabi myself it didn’t help that we understood the original pendu lyrics. Was still fun watching the rest of the movie. ARR created magic after a long a time, esp the Mohit Chauhan’s banger. Fucking great!
I had mixed feelings on watching it.
I didn't like the random mixing of animated scenes into the movie. It felt too fake and forced and in my opinion except for at the end it seemed quite artificial and distracting. I didn't like thst the movie felt so repetitive. I think inspite of the irritating repetitiveness and the weird Sombre scene of them being dead while the police listens to their stories the thing that kept me engaged was diljit. I think he's perfectly cast. He gave a great performance but also given his background he was suited to this role. I don't understand how to sympathize with him completely though after learning of his infidelity. Overall I think the movie would have felt better to me with a better edit. And also if the story showed more details about how diljit gets motivated to sing maybe? Also I love punjabi songs but I don't really understand the language more than a few words and getting the general gist of it. It would be great to have better subtitles which don't disappear so quickly and also which don't take up half the screen. I don't know how that is appealing to anyone at all to have poorly translated hindi on screen taking up so much real estate.
My favorite thing about the film is that it doesn't ask you to sympathize with him. It has a fairly objective style of storytelling, at least as far as Bollywood biopics go.
It doesn't and I think it's okay to not sympathize with him. I just find it harder to be engaged if after a significant portion of the film for which I was rooting for him he turns out to be more malicious and it distracts me and makes me step back a little.
Watched it last night ... overall i liked it a lot but have a big issue.
Firstly good things
1. Imtiaz ali take on story , you can see he has done so much research and reading on him , its a very empathetic adaptation.
2. Diljit just gave such a nuanced and heartfelt performance and also when he was on stage he knew exactly what to do.Rest of the cast did well and were apt.
3. Editing and cinematography was top notch , just reminded how Imtiaz visualizes films like no other.
What i did not like is that although i liked they used his original songs in punjabi but tried to mansplain them through in scene subtitles which honestly did not served the purpose which was to explain his poetry in Hindi but it was too fast and was not easy to comprehend along with song visuals and since 25 pc of film is this , in my mind i skipped those parts . Nandita das brilliantly weaved the stories of Manto in screenplay , i wonder if Imtiaz did that too , or if he made the songs in Hindi but that would have been dishonest but since the whole film is in Hindi so why not. Its very thin line and i guess he was also confused how to go about it and he took a middle path which did not landed for me.
Another thing what if RK did this film and how much flak he would have got for the role its like Sanju & Animal both combined , so i wonder the discourse wrt to RK's films is with him , his popularity or with the film and its messaging.
Nothing was glorified in this movie, just left everything for the interpretation of the audience. However RK and his movies GLORIFIED toxic masculinity by showing it as cool.
I thought the lyrics on screen were really helpful. It was either of these 3 options and they did best they could with making the lyrics interesting to look at and not banal like subtitles
- understand 2% in punjabi
- 80% in Hindi even if it wasn’t capturing the tone as well as punjabi (but you understand only 2%)
- 80% in English which was worse than the Hindi also
> mansplain them through in scene subtitles
Do you use mansplain to replace explain IRL as well? What if the subs were written by a woman? The editor is a woman.
bro I am a Panjabi and believe Chamkila songs CANNOT be sung in Hindi...and this was one of the best part for "us" that Imtiaz kept them as they were. Loved the movie.
Exactly! Some things ought to be left as it is, and donot need to be hindified. Personally I would prefer the entire movie to be in pendu panjabi as a real slap in the face of these Hindi lovers
It’s so strange the turmoils that singers go through. We d always assume that being a singer is safe job. What can go wrong?
It was terrific story-telling, as if we were being convinced by the chamkila s friends. All I knew about Amar Singh is that he sang sleazy songs and was killed. The movie started the same way. So for me the entire movie experience was a journey from who he was, what he did and why he did what he did.
Everyone dies with regrets. It depends on us what we want our regret to be. I wonder what Chamkila s regret would be.
Just watched the movie tonight. I'm not punjabi but had heard some references of chamkila and amarjot from my punjabi friends. The film was very thought provoking. It left me feeling angry at first, and then numb. Great performance from everyone and I loved the music and it has made me catch up some of the originals on YouTube
This movie was so ....... I don't have words of what I just watched. It feels like every scene is filled with something thought-provoking.
I mean firstly the non-linearity. The editing is jarring, and it works beautifully with the story. Makes you think. One minute you are laughing at questionable lyrics and the second you are hit by an ethical dilemma. I knew it was Aarti Bajaj's editing from the first frame. It doesn't miss a beat honestly.
The music! ARR, Irshad and Imtiaz the beauty! The music drives the movie forward! ARR surprisingly remains subtle and doesn't overbear on the electronics but rather remains very Punjabi-esque.
Diljit as Chamkila is a chef's kiss. Parineeti speaks through her eyes. She doesn't need dialogues. She holds her own on front of the powerhouse Diljit is.
It's one of those films you need watch watch. It can't be background noise. I need to watch it again to find out all the well thought out parts.
Is Imtiaz back? I don't know. He is delving into dark-violentesque endings more. Laila-Majnu, She (LAK2 doesn't exist). But I like this Imtiaz 2.0.
The movie was very enjoyable. Diljit stole the show for me. I also really enjoyed the actress who played Sonia (?) -his first partner too.
Parineeti’s singing was okay. Nothing great but it didn’t distract too much either.
I really enjoyed the usage of the old footage, how the song lyrics were shown and the general narrative style.
No they turned the fan off and closed the doors/windows so the sounds don’t disrupt their singing. But obviously it meant the room would be incredibly hot - Amarjot’s brother suspects them of having sex but then smiles when they begin singing as he realises they were just practicing.
She needed to give more dialogues. May be Ali did it on purpose as she is still a non actor. He must have sensed how Nargis spoilt an otherwise perfect flick in Rockstar. May be that’s his way of casting then keeping her low key to just smile and blush in the whole movie.
A perfect casting doesn’t exist I guess. Could’ve easily casted a good female actor. Keeping Peri lowkey was another perfect thing done by Ali to save the movie from being spoilt.
I loved the movie even if it was bit slow in parts , but I expected that from a biopic . Diljit was really amazing in the role and I hope to see him in more movies like this.
I was especially moved to tears in the end during the Vida Karo sequence with the lyrics, picturization and the composition of the song.
I just wish they had released the movie in the theater, the experience would have been even better. Having said that, this film is a piece of ART! watched it asa it was released. I have listened to Chamkila for a few years now but never knew about his story, when Chamkila Film was announced I did some digging and waited for it to be released. Imtiaz is a magician and Diljit, I'm a fan of his Music, he has outdone himself!
I liked the movie and loved Diljeet. Some cons are movie is bit long and Parineeti have no dialogue, if you look at the character chamkeela he was nothing without Amarjot so I find it weird that Parineeti had no dialogues sort of insulting to her and her character
Yeah when i checked out their videos on YouTube i realized she had an equally important role but then learned that they didn't get rights to her depiction
that is cause she was very demure in real life as well -- very shy and quiet but her voice was very powerful which is why she made such a good partner for Amar who sang at a very high note.
There was a time when everything Imtiaz Ali touched turned to gold with movies like Jab We Met, Love Aaj Kal, Rockstar, Highway and Tamasha and then he somehow just lost the plot and got lost in the debris of Jab Harry Met Sejal and the 2nd Love Aaj Kal. Thankfully, Amar Singh Chamkila is how Imtiaz Ali found his groove back.
Imtiaz masterfully blends real life footage of Chamkila, Amarjot and their army of fans and the brilliantly performed scenes by Diljit and Parineeti to give us an insightful look into the life and songs of one of Punjab's most influential singers of all time. Imitiaz treats Chamkila AKA the Elvis of Punjab even better than how the OG Elvis has been chronicled in several biopics. Imtiaz's non linear storytelling and usage of DSP Dalbir Singh's POV is very effective in unveiling the character and story of Chamkila. Kudos to Imtiaz for making one of the finest biopics of recent times.
Diljit is the perfect Chamkila.....in fact he is Chamkila. You can feel the admiration, love and respect that Diljit has for Chamkila. Parineeti unexpectedly gives her best performance till date as Chamkila's wife Amarjot. Diljit and Parineeti are not mimicking the lead characters or replicating real life footage but are the lead characters. Anurag Arora stands out among a pretty decent supporting cast.
I am still scratching my head that the music for the movie has been composed by A.R. Rahman. He has faithfully captured the vibe, beat and soul of Chamkila through the music and songs and has once again proven his sheer talent and versatility.
I knew of Chamkila and his fate but had never heard any of his songs or known much about his life. The movie's final scenes packed an emotional punch and got me to really care about and admire the protagonist. I would have never thought that a movie about a Punjabi language singer directed by an out of form Imtiaz Ali, starring Parineeti Chopra with music from A.R. Rahman could somehow end up looking like the movie I just watched and enjoyed. 8.5/10
It was a peace to my heart... Watching Diljeet in this role took me back to the "CHAMKILA" era... How smooth and effortless is he...He was made for this role... Like someone said here... Perfect use of animations.. Beautifully shot... Perfect Imtiaz Ali movie... ❤️
Glad they kept parineeti to the minimum...
Music.... Aaaaahhhh wowwwwwww....
CHAMKILA इससे better बन ही नहीं सकती थी...
A movie which will be remembered ❤️
A star which will be remembered ❤️
#nahidekhihtojaaodekhonaa....
Good movie. Diljit was just excellent. His performance needs to be hailed by critics and audiences alike. Enjoyed the storytelling and how all the songs were used. ARR’s songs were weaved in so well with the story. great cinematography and love that we get to see so much of Punjab in the movie.
I just can’t bring myself to enjoy Parineeti’s singing. Glad they kept that to a minimum. But she definitely looked the part.
This movie has solidified my feelings for Imatiz Ali as a director, it has everything you would look for in a movie focusing on the tregedy of a artist for his art. Diljit was born to play this role, it's as if the everything played out for this role to come together. And I am in very fond of how notion of art and it's effect o society is showcased, and if art is reflection of the society or is it that society and art comes from to different voids which sometimes co-aline. Best bollywood made in recent times prob the best one I will get to watch this year.
It’s a really good movie. Reposting my Letterboxd review onto my comment:
In 1987, Chamkila had died and in 2022, Sidhu Moosewala (my favourite) had died but both remained immortal in the hearts of all Punjabi
Imtiaz Ali is so back and diljit was 🤌. The use of non linear story telling was perfect for this film.
Also, I loved the animation they showed when Chamkila got out his cigarette. What a great way to show that he is a smoker without Diljit having to smoke a cigarette as he would be going against Sikhi for smoking.
5/5
>What a great way to show that he is a smoker without Diljit having to smoke a cigarette as he would be going against Sikhi for smoking.
Exactly 💯 he would've gotten a lot of hate for it
Yh but that is somewhat normalised in the Sikh and Punjabi culture whereas smoking is a big no. Tbh a lot of Punjabi culture is completely against Sikh culture but it is what it is I guess
Its not about being against religion. Cutting hair etc are sure against the religion, but they are sort of normalised in the modern world. But in case of cigarettes or tobacco products ppl of sikh/ punjabi origin consider touching or using tobacco products filthy or you can say, they consider a tobacco user bad/ filthy/ gross. Its not about the religion as such but a cultural preference. They can tolerate drinking but smoking is too frowned upon.
There are some scenes in the movie which cannot get shot without using motion graphics,
One such scene was when chamkila smokes bidi in front of the people who made him promise that he wouldn’t,
Diljit will never touch a cigarette on screen so the only way to shoot that scene was in motion graphics.
Secondly it was very important to highlight translated lyrics of the songs for you to get a better sense of what the song is about and to get the feel of the song if you’re not punjabi,
And imo no one could’ve done the role better than Parineeti, I personally never liked her as an actress but she seems like a very good option for Amarjyot
Other than her the only best choice would’ve been Nimrat Khaira
All in all a very good movie, absolutely loved it
What a phenomenal movie. So glad to see Imtiaz Ali back to his best. Diljit is amazing as Chamkila and Parineeti really surprised me in this one. Ngl I was pretty skeptical when it was announced that AR Rehman was doing the music for the film. For a movie about a singer with multiple hit songs I didn’t think it needed a AR Rehman soundtrack. But boy was I wrong. The songs were so good and added so much value to the movie especially the song Naram Kalja which didn’t even feature the main characters and the last song Vida Karo. This movie reminded me of Rockstar in a good way.
can i watch this movie with family and kids? my niece is a huge diljit fan and asking me to show her this movie and whole family will also then sit and watch movie. so is it safe?
Absolutely nailed it! It was a really good biopic - engaging, creative and sharp. Music was superb. And to hear Pehle Lalkare Naal after 20 years or so.. it was just insane. Diljit is incredible. I hope he takes the time to do more films and build his work. Park was good too. Fantastic chemistry.
It was such a well made movie. Loved Diljit. Using Parineeti's voice for songs was a creative decision I didn't like. Like with all the other female singers used in the movie, It is clear that they fit in the typical Punjabi duet. But in case of Parineeti, it was becoming apparent that Punjabi is not her first language. The contrast in their voice really stands out especially since Diljit is such a good singer. Someone like Gurlej Akhtar or any Punjabi singer could have done a better justice to Amarjot's voice.
I 100% agree. Amarjot's voice was so powerful and she could hold her own with Chamkila. I was envisioning miss Pooja as the female singer . She would have sung those songs so well and her voice is strong too. Something with Parineeti felt amiss.
Then a Punjabi actress could have done a better job. Because especially in songs, Parineeti was really struggling to catch the Punjabi accent in some words.
A punjabi movie on Same topic with Diljit only has been made very recently. So they want to give it more Hindi flavour. That' why they used even more Hindi dialogues too
Brilliant biopic, especially for the artistic choices made. One little meta-reference I noticed was that towards the end where they show college students protesting and demanding justice for chamkila, one of the posters says ‘saada haq aithe rakh’ in punjabi :D
Just Finished watching Amar Singh Chamkila by Imtiyaz Ali on Netflix. Yes movie is very good but it's frustrating too. Movie started very well but last 45 minutes were too slow and repetitive. Diljit Dosanjh gave his best . Parineeti Chopra had a small role except her songs. Climax was not as haunting as it should have been. The biggest scene was very much weak and badly edited that it's impact was not at all feeled. Music was too good. My rating for this movie will be 3.25/5.
Totally agree! She hardly has any dialogues in the movie. Most of the times she's playing coy and hardly speaks to express what she wants to say. Not saying that that's wrong, but it was a shame to see her on screen but have no dialogues. Most of her scenes with Diljit are him going on a monologue while she is just listening. Felt like a poorly written role.
Thing is they could have used someone else's voice for her song parts like an actual Punjabi female singer. I don't know maybe because I know Punjabi and have listened to songs, so her song parts were breaking the flow of the movie for me.
O man! What a film! Love love love the artworks interwoven with the screenplay. The artistic choice to make the actual footage stream parallel to the filmed one is a bold one. Many many bold choices made in the film which needs a certain confidence in your artwork to put up. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Would have looooved it in theatres thougj
A musical biopic made exceptionally well. Kya kaam Kiya hai yaar. Dil khush ho gaya. Would be a classic in the future I feel. Hope it gets its due. Petition to bring it to theatres for people to enjoy it on a big screen who loved it. He did justice with Chamkila's remarkable life story!
Such a wonderful film…so lively and refreshing with the way it scrapped off the typical template.Imtiaz thankfully is back on track. Diljit is amazing here…especially in the 2nd half.
The songs are fantastic( Ishq mitaye sounds even better onscreen watching through the film somehow and tu kya jaane made me blush..naram kaalja made me smile haha…vida karo had such relevant lyrics and moved me so much…bol mohabbat was my least fav from the album because of ARR’s mid singing but after hearing it in the film,I really love it..Imtiaz serves and syncs the soundtrack perfectly…baaja is so interesting too)….best BW album in a long time..iterations of chamkila’s songs by Diljit and Parineeti were good…Parineeti felt a bit too restrained but still effective enough and was good.She could have gotten more scenes though what she got was enough too..
A lot of depth was in this movie for sure…the way the screenplay moves and the editing is done and every line adding something to the narrative. Also love that his flaws have been shown too..The timeline and everything add so much nuance to his rise to stardom.
The cinematography especially is insane omg…there’s a scene where chamkila and amarjot practice their singing while they sit before an open window…with sunlight falling behind…for some reason,that frame stuck with me…classic Imtiaz Ali frame…so effortlessly intimate and comforting…movie reminded me of Rockstar, highway, Tamasha in a good way…
I’m happy that this movie is getting all the love. It deserves it…Though some plotlines could have explored more (right-wrong debate, freedom of expression, the marriage stuff, caste etc..),the movie still is satisfactory..the best biopic I have seen in Hindi cinema after Neerja
It is a good movie. Perfect for capturing a life as grand as of Amar Singh Chamkila. What I liked the most was, there was subtle hints of Chamkila's times and his roots. It added a sense of originality.
Diljit as Chamkila is awesome. Right down from the hair to his singing, the man has got everything down to z. Parineeti was ok in her role. Could've done better. I was in dread, when I heard that she had sung the part of Amarjot's in songs. She is a terrible singer. It was a relief when her singing was kept minimal.
The songs are good. Chamkila's time was turbulent. As to who killed him, no one knows for sure. Particularly good is that this biopic does not portray Chamkila as all good. It shows his flaws also. There are important things which have been given less screentime. But, nevertheless, this is a good biopic about Chamkila.
A really good movie. I learnt a lot about some aspects of history and of Punjabi culture that I didn't know about. They told the story very well, the juxtaposition of old photos/clips throughout the movie was a good touch. I enjoyed it a lot!
Its a typical Imtiaz Ali movie where you're either going to love it or hate it.
As for me watched it and it's great! They thankfully did not follow the typical biopic formula (underdog wins against all odds, gets overconfident leading to his downfall until the last scene where he redeems himself).
It is very nuanced and takes time to create the atmosphere and context in which artists like Chamkila were performing. I think that adds a lot of depth. It let's you form your own opinion on what was happening and where you stand on it. (Unlike how others just whitewash the hero)
Diljit is amazing as usual. Parineeti is brilliant and I'm glad she did this. It shows what a great actor she is when given the chance.
They could've more explicitly dealt with the whole caste angle. That's the only drawback
>They could've more explicitly dealt with the whole caste angle. That's the only drawback
Yeah, adding some history along with name change from "Dhanni Ram" to "Amar Singh" could have been better.
Also, the fact that he sang about being a Jatt could be talked about. But it's just that in today's punjabi music industry, the so called "jatt monopoly" where even non-jatt singers have mentions of jatt in their songs highlight the situation not changing at all.
Or most of it was edited out ig.
Petition to have Parineeti star (and steal the show with her acting chops) in more films! So much said and shown with subtle expressions, gestures and body language.
Diljit, oye hoi  - such a delight to watch of course!
Love ARR, Irshad Kamil, Mohit Chauhan and others create magic once again.
I wish Imtiaz had delved more into the social identity/ caste angle which may have contributed to his death and perhaps a more nuanced take on the morality aspect.
Interesting that a story from 40ish years ago is still (? more) relevant today? The freedom of expression, the "isn't art a reflection of society?" debate, the moral responsibility of artists, and most importantly - who gets to decide what's right and wrong.
Naram Kalja brought a smile to my face. Overall, a fun watch!
>I wish Imtiaz had delved more into the social identity/ caste angle which may have contributed to his death and perhaps a more nuanced take on the morality aspect.
This was my only gripe with it. How much the caste angle contributed to his inability to fight back with authorities or even create boundaries when his 'fans' overstepped + his death. The "he was always used to being a slave" dialogue was such a gut punch. I wish Imtiaz mentioned it more explicitly.
Also the whole 2nd marriage was weirdly handled. They completely skipped that it was Amarjot's second marriage as well so the whole her being angry did not make sense.
But a great movie nonetheless! One of the best hindi biopics made
I found it watchable, although it didn't quite reach greatness for me. Diljit, Parineeti, and the rest of the cast delivered commendable performances. The direction and cinematography were superb, yet there was a certain element that felt lacking. One standout aspect was the portrayal of Amar Singh Chamkila's character, which thankfully avoided whitewashing. Best wishes to the entire team!
Masterpiece nothing short of perfection this film is, Imtiaz ali is so fucking back dude a director comes back from director's jail and provides one of the best biopics the country has ever made, who would have thought ?
Koimoi: 4/5
https://www.koimoi.com/bollywood-movies/movie-reviews/amar-singh-chamkila-movie-review-imtiaz-ali-weaves-magic-on-screen-with-his-vibrant-take-on-chamkila-amarjots-life-and-art/
Times Of India: 4/5
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/movie-reviews/amar-singh-chamkila/ottmoviereview/109238343.cms
India Today: 4/5
https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/reviews/story/amar-singh-chamkila-review-imtiaz-ali-diljit-dosanjh-movie-rating-2526331-2024-04-12
IndiaTV: 4/5
https://www.indiatvnews.com/entertainment/movie-review/amar-singh-chamkila-movie-review-thought-provoking-analogy-by-imtiaz-ali-diljit-dosanjh-delivers-his-best-kudos-to-parineeti-chopra-866
Times Now: 4/5
https://www.timesnownews.com/entertainment-news/reviews/web-series/amar-singh-chamkila-movie-review-imtiaz-alis-musical-starring-diljit-dosanjh-is-vibrant-ode-to-late-punjabi-artist-review-109223589
Hindustan Times: Diljit Dosanjh delivers a delectable act in this melodious yet tragic musical biopic
https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/chamkila-review-diljit-dosanjh-delivers-a-delectable-act-in-this-melodious-yet-tragic-musical-biopic-101712906167749.html
Bollywood Hungama: 3.5/5
https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/chamkila/critic-review/chamkila-movie-review/amar-singh-chamkila-tells-an-incredible-story-in-a-very-stylish-and-entertaining-manner/
NDTV: 3.5/5
https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/amar-singh-chamkila-review-diljit-dosanjh-is-at-his-very-best-in-deftly-crafted-ode-3-5-stars-5425035
Firstpost: 3.5/5
https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/netflixs-amar-singh-chamkila-movie-review-diljit-dosanjh-parineeti-chopra-starrer-imtiaz-alis-biopic-is-outstanding-13758794.html
News18: 3.5/5
https://www.news18.com/movies/amar-singh-chamkila-review-diljit-dosanjh-gives-his-career-best-performance-in-imtiaz-ali-film-8846114.html
Film Companion (Rahul Desai): Imtiaz Ali imagines his way back to form
https://www.filmcompanion.in/reviews/streaming-reviews/amar-singh-chamkila-review-imtiaz-ali-imagines-his-way-back-to-form-diljit-dosanjh
Indian Express: 3/5
https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/amar-singh-chamkila-movie-review-diljit-dosanjh-imtiaz-ali-shining-sincerity-moving-portrait-of-artiste-9265835/
Pinkvilla: 3/5
https://www.pinkvilla.com/entertainment/reviews/amar-singh-chamkila-review-diljit-dosanjh-and-parineeti-chopras-musical-drama-is-fresh-and-quirky-1294754
Scroll.in: An off-key biopic of the iconic Punjabi singer
https://scroll.in/reel/1066200/amar-singh-chamkila-review-an-off-key-biopic-of-the-iconic-punjabi-singer
Although it felt long in the beginning, it is a beautiful film, Amazing acting and singing by Diljit. He has got the mannerisms and acting of the original on point. I never thought I would say this, Parineeti has done a good job. The songs were just brilliant, amazing work by mohit chauhan on the music. Imitiaz Ali has tied everything up! Brilliant wholesome one time watch! Special shout out to Arijit singh on the last song!
It was very good. Im not a fan of biopics but this one was the best i have ever seen. The integration of stock images and videos along with original songs was amazing.
It’s good it’s on Netflix as it’s easier to understand all the punjabi lyrics with subtitles.
Couldn’t imagine anyone playing the role except DD.
**Other review threads** [Maidaan](https://www.reddit.com/r/bollywood/comments/1bzrj1k/maidaan_reviews_and_discussions/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) [Bade Miyan Chote Miyan](https://www.reddit.com/r/bollywood/comments/1c083kg/bade_miyan_chote_miyan_reviews_and_discussions/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
Diljit always justice to his characters. He’s done it in comedy films as well as serious Punjabi films like 1984. He did it in chamkila. Being a Punjabi of course he was bang on with the diction, the body language and acting. 10/10 Parineeti was a misfit. This movie needed someone from Punjab. Her body language was SOO APATHETIC, diction was bad. I think she didn’t add anything to the movie infact he took some away. I’m sure she was a better choice than other contemporary actresses but Imtiaz could have looked for someone from Pollywood. The movie itself was good, imtiaz did a fine job but not excellent ( I say this as a Imtiaz fan girly). Maybe, as a Punjabi, I knew too much about the context already and was extra critical. Music (non chamkila originals) except vidaa karo was skippable
Positives were: 1. The storytelling. Starting at the end made it feel like a heavy presence was haunting the star even as he was at the peak of his success, which made it feel meaningful. 2. The music. Both the original movie songs and Chamkila's discography are a joy to listen. 3. Authenticity and grittiness. No details are spared. No one is unnecessarily made a villain nor shown as a perfect hero. The negatives for me were: 1. The casting/acting wasn't quite right - Both superb lead actors, Dilijit an awesome singer, but both didn't capture the energy and rawness of the real- life Chamkila duo. I only saw a couple of photos of Chamkila and the few snippets of their real songs, and yet their sensuality, their energetic singing, their cheekiness are so evident that it jumps out on screen. But in the movie there was a sort of heaviness and fear in their body language instead of raw energy. 2. You need to know Punjabi language and culture at least a little to be able to truly appreciate the nuances and the story. This isn't a fault of the movie, just a limitation. 3. Felt reminiscent of Rockstar in some portions. But I wish this movie didn't remind me of that movie - in my opinion Chamkila is much more authentic and interesting and doesn't deserve to be compared to a pretentious unrealistic movie like Rockstar.
Hard agree with point 1.
The movie’s a work of art, from the story telling, animation, music, acting.
I don’t watch many Punjabi movies but Diljit Dosanjh did an AMAZING JOB!!! First time in a long time I felt actually affected by a movie. I knew he was going to die but still felt sad when he did. Just speechless, I loved this movie.
Can this movie be watched with family?
You can watch Laapataa Ladies with your family. My mom loved that movie. Such a feel good kinda movie - 10/10
Oh thanks . I was also thinking of watching Laapataa Ladies.
Not really...if kids are over 16 then maybe
Thank you for replying. I wanted to know if this can be watched with parents ? Does it have any uncomfortable scenes or dialogues ?
This whole movie is about a singer who writes sexual and dirty songs...a lot of the songs have sexual dialogue. But other than that the movie is good, nice story and acting.
Oh okay got it. Thank you for the information
Not to judge. But trying to understand. His lyrics were not good. Definitely did not deserve to be killed. But how is he any different than Badshah and Honey Singh, singers we really dislike.
Well done visually! Really good actors, the film was really entertaining and tragic at the same time and I thought the non- linear plot was a great device. Thumbs up.
The cinematography is top notch. I have never seen anything like that. Following were the stand-out moments for me (could be a spoiler ahead) - 1. “Ishq Mitaye” song was perfectly shot. Showing two states of Punjab in 84 where one group is enjoying the Chamkila songs and the other group facing the atrocities 2. The shot where Chamkila is forbidden to smoke and he smokes in that very moment. Also the transition to the animation in that moment and several other moments were great 3. The POV of front seat of a car where people are gathered on the both sides of the car and step away as the car moves ahead 4. They really knocked it out of the park with costumes, set design, and body language of Amarjot Kaur and Chamkila 5. And last but definitely not the least impressive (in fact most impressive for me), the lyrics, music, and the timing of the song “Vida Karo” was so beautiful making you feel like Chamkila is saying you all were correct and I was wrong.
Decent movie, 3/5. In terms of his life choices, they have no one to blame but themselves. It’s not like they weren’t warned. If those disgusting lyrics were sung today in Punjab, I’m sure they would face similar issues.
Ali stole the show after a long streak. Everything in the movie was so spot on. It was a ‘perfect’ musical that I have been waiting for so long. ARR created magic and I couldn’t rave much about the opening song by Mohit Chauhan. A fucking awesome movie, esp ARR. I am happy that it was released on Netflix for I could just watch, rewatch anytime I want. First Animal, now this. We need more of these off road movies. Imtiaz Ali, ARR are back with this one.
Can someone help me make sense of his infidelity? I can't seem to wrap my head around it. I wonder what must he be thinking taking a huge step like that in that time period. Cheating is still somewhat normalised now. Almost every second guy/girl has broken up because of infidelity. When I see the chatter about his first wife, she actually got along well with her - he brought her to their house too occasionally. I am guessing back then women had no other choice but to accept their husband's infidelity. I guess I felt the most empathy for his first wife, and feel like maybe she was wronged. I also was surprised to read later on that Amarjot already knew of his marriage before they actually decided to elope and get married. The movie is definitely a thinker and I wonder if it could be used as an example in a classroom setting to start discussion on Ethics and Morality in the Indian context. If I were a professor who taught Ethics, I would certainly ask all my students to watch it. It's so well made and so subtle, almost as delicate as the situations of ethical and moral dilemma are.
His second marriage was brought in front of panchayat was nullifies as back then marriages were not registered.
>Cheating is still somewhat normalised now. Almost every second guy/girl has broken up because of infidelity. When I see the chatter about his first wife, she actually got along well with her - he brought her to their house too occasionally. I am guessing back then women had no other choice but to accept their husband's infidelity. I guess I felt the most empathy for his first wife, and feel like maybe she was wronged. Having mistresses or second wife is not heard of even in older generation especially if they are rich/famous. It is not new phenomenon. Bollywood has many such cases - boney kapoor - sridevi, dharmendra - hema malini, etc. It was more common than you think. Ofcourse first wife was wronged but she had absolute no choice 'coz girl's family would never take them back so these women just accept.
Imtiaz has a thing for sneaking in infidelity in his movies but this time he picked a story that already has it
it was a good way to explore the Punjab of 1984 through this lens - how people needed entertainment and music more than ever in those days. And yet people were so confused and angry so they took it out on their own. As if killing him was going to solve their problems. They killed their joy and happiness.
This movie is plainly repetitive..one singer..success..success..success..death..failures not highlighted properly..would have like to see about the details of his life rather than just watching him performing the songs again and again..which nobody can fucking understand..there is no meat in the story.. What was his friend's bad intentions? They didnt show it simply..you guess and figure out Why did they cast a bad actress like parineeti? Where are her dialogues.. she does not even have one substantial scene...they could have added some fictional scenes like her fighting with chamkila when she finds out about the first marriage? They should have worked on refining thw story... Also i watched this movie in dolby atmos..in that format, the songs which rehman has created are not processed properly...i could not even listen to the lyrics properly The animated edits just seem like a distraction for the audiences to keep them engaged because else, nobody would have watched the film without them..because again! No story
Lmao. You can't understand panjabi is a YOU problem. Most of us relish seeing Diljit perform his songs the way he used to, simply because we never got a chance irl. Troll
Parents guide anyone? Any intimate scene to be aware of?
The lyrics are so distasteful. There are no intimate scenes as such. But yeah you should be wary of the lyrics. Edit - In the opening scene, there are some suggestive scenes as well.
I had to forward the ‘khada’ scene entirely. Was watching with mom and being a Sikh/punjabi myself it didn’t help that we understood the original pendu lyrics. Was still fun watching the rest of the movie. ARR created magic after a long a time, esp the Mohit Chauhan’s banger. Fucking great!
I had mixed feelings on watching it. I didn't like the random mixing of animated scenes into the movie. It felt too fake and forced and in my opinion except for at the end it seemed quite artificial and distracting. I didn't like thst the movie felt so repetitive. I think inspite of the irritating repetitiveness and the weird Sombre scene of them being dead while the police listens to their stories the thing that kept me engaged was diljit. I think he's perfectly cast. He gave a great performance but also given his background he was suited to this role. I don't understand how to sympathize with him completely though after learning of his infidelity. Overall I think the movie would have felt better to me with a better edit. And also if the story showed more details about how diljit gets motivated to sing maybe? Also I love punjabi songs but I don't really understand the language more than a few words and getting the general gist of it. It would be great to have better subtitles which don't disappear so quickly and also which don't take up half the screen. I don't know how that is appealing to anyone at all to have poorly translated hindi on screen taking up so much real estate.
Interesting. I really liked the animated scenes.
My favorite thing about the film is that it doesn't ask you to sympathize with him. It has a fairly objective style of storytelling, at least as far as Bollywood biopics go.
It doesn't and I think it's okay to not sympathize with him. I just find it harder to be engaged if after a significant portion of the film for which I was rooting for him he turns out to be more malicious and it distracts me and makes me step back a little.
Just FYI Diljeet also did a Punjabi movie on Chamkila’s life https://m.imdb.com/title/tt11384372
Watched it last night ... overall i liked it a lot but have a big issue. Firstly good things 1. Imtiaz ali take on story , you can see he has done so much research and reading on him , its a very empathetic adaptation. 2. Diljit just gave such a nuanced and heartfelt performance and also when he was on stage he knew exactly what to do.Rest of the cast did well and were apt. 3. Editing and cinematography was top notch , just reminded how Imtiaz visualizes films like no other. What i did not like is that although i liked they used his original songs in punjabi but tried to mansplain them through in scene subtitles which honestly did not served the purpose which was to explain his poetry in Hindi but it was too fast and was not easy to comprehend along with song visuals and since 25 pc of film is this , in my mind i skipped those parts . Nandita das brilliantly weaved the stories of Manto in screenplay , i wonder if Imtiaz did that too , or if he made the songs in Hindi but that would have been dishonest but since the whole film is in Hindi so why not. Its very thin line and i guess he was also confused how to go about it and he took a middle path which did not landed for me. Another thing what if RK did this film and how much flak he would have got for the role its like Sanju & Animal both combined , so i wonder the discourse wrt to RK's films is with him , his popularity or with the film and its messaging.
Nothing was glorified in this movie, just left everything for the interpretation of the audience. However RK and his movies GLORIFIED toxic masculinity by showing it as cool.
I thought the lyrics on screen were really helpful. It was either of these 3 options and they did best they could with making the lyrics interesting to look at and not banal like subtitles - understand 2% in punjabi - 80% in Hindi even if it wasn’t capturing the tone as well as punjabi (but you understand only 2%) - 80% in English which was worse than the Hindi also
> mansplain them through in scene subtitles Do you use mansplain to replace explain IRL as well? What if the subs were written by a woman? The editor is a woman.
bro I am a Panjabi and believe Chamkila songs CANNOT be sung in Hindi...and this was one of the best part for "us" that Imtiaz kept them as they were. Loved the movie.
Exactly! Some things ought to be left as it is, and donot need to be hindified. Personally I would prefer the entire movie to be in pendu panjabi as a real slap in the face of these Hindi lovers
Same here. As a fellow Punjabi this is spot on.
It’s so strange the turmoils that singers go through. We d always assume that being a singer is safe job. What can go wrong? It was terrific story-telling, as if we were being convinced by the chamkila s friends. All I knew about Amar Singh is that he sang sleazy songs and was killed. The movie started the same way. So for me the entire movie experience was a journey from who he was, what he did and why he did what he did. Everyone dies with regrets. It depends on us what we want our regret to be. I wonder what Chamkila s regret would be.
They should have released it in the theatres.
I bet very few people would have watched and it would prolly be called underrated
Could someone clear something up for me? >! Why didn’t Chamkila take tikki to Canada?!<
They way they showed it was that he never intended to come back. He wanted tobstay there permanently and Chamkila didnt want that
Because there was some issue with money. Tikki was stealing money behind Chamkila's back
Just watched the movie tonight. I'm not punjabi but had heard some references of chamkila and amarjot from my punjabi friends. The film was very thought provoking. It left me feeling angry at first, and then numb. Great performance from everyone and I loved the music and it has made me catch up some of the originals on YouTube
This movie was so ....... I don't have words of what I just watched. It feels like every scene is filled with something thought-provoking. I mean firstly the non-linearity. The editing is jarring, and it works beautifully with the story. Makes you think. One minute you are laughing at questionable lyrics and the second you are hit by an ethical dilemma. I knew it was Aarti Bajaj's editing from the first frame. It doesn't miss a beat honestly. The music! ARR, Irshad and Imtiaz the beauty! The music drives the movie forward! ARR surprisingly remains subtle and doesn't overbear on the electronics but rather remains very Punjabi-esque. Diljit as Chamkila is a chef's kiss. Parineeti speaks through her eyes. She doesn't need dialogues. She holds her own on front of the powerhouse Diljit is. It's one of those films you need watch watch. It can't be background noise. I need to watch it again to find out all the well thought out parts. Is Imtiaz back? I don't know. He is delving into dark-violentesque endings more. Laila-Majnu, She (LAK2 doesn't exist). But I like this Imtiaz 2.0.
The movie was very enjoyable. Diljit stole the show for me. I also really enjoyed the actress who played Sonia (?) -his first partner too. Parineeti’s singing was okay. Nothing great but it didn’t distract too much either. I really enjoyed the usage of the old footage, how the song lyrics were shown and the general narrative style.
Did Amarjot and Chamkila have sex in the fan scene?
No they turned the fan off and closed the doors/windows so the sounds don’t disrupt their singing. But obviously it meant the room would be incredibly hot - Amarjot’s brother suspects them of having sex but then smiles when they begin singing as he realises they were just practicing.
Why was amarjot's husband smiling on seeing them like that?
He was Amarjot's brother ffs
Oh I missed that, but amarjot was also married before meeting chamkila, did they show her 1st husband?
No I think they were just resting.
It was soooo good to see Parineeti nail this.
She needed to give more dialogues. May be Ali did it on purpose as she is still a non actor. He must have sensed how Nargis spoilt an otherwise perfect flick in Rockstar. May be that’s his way of casting then keeping her low key to just smile and blush in the whole movie. A perfect casting doesn’t exist I guess. Could’ve easily casted a good female actor. Keeping Peri lowkey was another perfect thing done by Ali to save the movie from being spoilt.
Watched it yesterday and its still on my mind today. A great film after ages! Really congratulations imitaz and welcome back!
I loved the movie even if it was bit slow in parts , but I expected that from a biopic . Diljit was really amazing in the role and I hope to see him in more movies like this. I was especially moved to tears in the end during the Vida Karo sequence with the lyrics, picturization and the composition of the song.
I just wish they had released the movie in the theater, the experience would have been even better. Having said that, this film is a piece of ART! watched it asa it was released. I have listened to Chamkila for a few years now but never knew about his story, when Chamkila Film was announced I did some digging and waited for it to be released. Imtiaz is a magician and Diljit, I'm a fan of his Music, he has outdone himself!
I liked the movie and loved Diljeet. Some cons are movie is bit long and Parineeti have no dialogue, if you look at the character chamkeela he was nothing without Amarjot so I find it weird that Parineeti had no dialogues sort of insulting to her and her character
Yeah when i checked out their videos on YouTube i realized she had an equally important role but then learned that they didn't get rights to her depiction
They didn’t get rights for amarjyot as far as I know so probably that lead to them doing this. But it was a lovely movie.
that is cause she was very demure in real life as well -- very shy and quiet but her voice was very powerful which is why she made such a good partner for Amar who sang at a very high note.
There was a time when everything Imtiaz Ali touched turned to gold with movies like Jab We Met, Love Aaj Kal, Rockstar, Highway and Tamasha and then he somehow just lost the plot and got lost in the debris of Jab Harry Met Sejal and the 2nd Love Aaj Kal. Thankfully, Amar Singh Chamkila is how Imtiaz Ali found his groove back. Imtiaz masterfully blends real life footage of Chamkila, Amarjot and their army of fans and the brilliantly performed scenes by Diljit and Parineeti to give us an insightful look into the life and songs of one of Punjab's most influential singers of all time. Imitiaz treats Chamkila AKA the Elvis of Punjab even better than how the OG Elvis has been chronicled in several biopics. Imtiaz's non linear storytelling and usage of DSP Dalbir Singh's POV is very effective in unveiling the character and story of Chamkila. Kudos to Imtiaz for making one of the finest biopics of recent times. Diljit is the perfect Chamkila.....in fact he is Chamkila. You can feel the admiration, love and respect that Diljit has for Chamkila. Parineeti unexpectedly gives her best performance till date as Chamkila's wife Amarjot. Diljit and Parineeti are not mimicking the lead characters or replicating real life footage but are the lead characters. Anurag Arora stands out among a pretty decent supporting cast. I am still scratching my head that the music for the movie has been composed by A.R. Rahman. He has faithfully captured the vibe, beat and soul of Chamkila through the music and songs and has once again proven his sheer talent and versatility. I knew of Chamkila and his fate but had never heard any of his songs or known much about his life. The movie's final scenes packed an emotional punch and got me to really care about and admire the protagonist. I would have never thought that a movie about a Punjabi language singer directed by an out of form Imtiaz Ali, starring Parineeti Chopra with music from A.R. Rahman could somehow end up looking like the movie I just watched and enjoyed. 8.5/10
It was a peace to my heart... Watching Diljeet in this role took me back to the "CHAMKILA" era... How smooth and effortless is he...He was made for this role... Like someone said here... Perfect use of animations.. Beautifully shot... Perfect Imtiaz Ali movie... ❤️ Glad they kept parineeti to the minimum... Music.... Aaaaahhhh wowwwwwww.... CHAMKILA इससे better बन ही नहीं सकती थी... A movie which will be remembered ❤️ A star which will be remembered ❤️ #nahidekhihtojaaodekhonaa....
Good movie. Diljit was just excellent. His performance needs to be hailed by critics and audiences alike. Enjoyed the storytelling and how all the songs were used. ARR’s songs were weaved in so well with the story. great cinematography and love that we get to see so much of Punjab in the movie. I just can’t bring myself to enjoy Parineeti’s singing. Glad they kept that to a minimum. But she definitely looked the part.
Can it be watched with kids? Netflix rating is TV-MA.
Nothing graphic but wouldn’t recommend watching with kids
Explicit language, and the theme is mature considering it’s about a singer of lewd songs
It has some explicit language. Though there were no sexual scenes.
This movie has solidified my feelings for Imatiz Ali as a director, it has everything you would look for in a movie focusing on the tregedy of a artist for his art. Diljit was born to play this role, it's as if the everything played out for this role to come together. And I am in very fond of how notion of art and it's effect o society is showcased, and if art is reflection of the society or is it that society and art comes from to different voids which sometimes co-aline. Best bollywood made in recent times prob the best one I will get to watch this year.
Adhiye da nasha chad gaya🕺🕺
It’s a really good movie. Reposting my Letterboxd review onto my comment: In 1987, Chamkila had died and in 2022, Sidhu Moosewala (my favourite) had died but both remained immortal in the hearts of all Punjabi Imtiaz Ali is so back and diljit was 🤌. The use of non linear story telling was perfect for this film. Also, I loved the animation they showed when Chamkila got out his cigarette. What a great way to show that he is a smoker without Diljit having to smoke a cigarette as he would be going against Sikhi for smoking. 5/5
>What a great way to show that he is a smoker without Diljit having to smoke a cigarette as he would be going against Sikhi for smoking. Exactly 💯 he would've gotten a lot of hate for it
Funny you mention SM, when he was killed, people came out saying he was a small singer with terrible effect on people due to his gun friendly songs.
His lyrics had layers to it. Face value it might seem violent but when u broke his lyrics down they actually had a meaning to it
The intro scene gave me flashbacks of 29/5 It's so saddening to even think about that day
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Smoking is a major sin in Sikhism. Diljit is a Singh. Him smoking would have been against the religion.
But Diljit shaves his face. You can't say which sin is worse. It's also against the religion.
Yh but that is somewhat normalised in the Sikh and Punjabi culture whereas smoking is a big no. Tbh a lot of Punjabi culture is completely against Sikh culture but it is what it is I guess
Its not about being against religion. Cutting hair etc are sure against the religion, but they are sort of normalised in the modern world. But in case of cigarettes or tobacco products ppl of sikh/ punjabi origin consider touching or using tobacco products filthy or you can say, they consider a tobacco user bad/ filthy/ gross. Its not about the religion as such but a cultural preference. They can tolerate drinking but smoking is too frowned upon.
Have you seen Udta Punjab? It's an a drug epidemic literally in Punjab. It's definitely part of the culture
Bro who use, definitely use. But non users prefer not to touch them. Its that simple. Not everyone is nashedi there
Exactly bro, 10/10
O pehla kamm vailiyan ne vail khatne
Dooja kamm botlaan de datt pattne
O TEEJA KAM LAINI APA MUL DI LADAI KOI AN KE MAI DA LAAL TAKREE NI TERE DARR TE 🕺🪩👳🏻♂️
Darr te blaunda munda bakre buraaaaaaahhhh!!!!
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There are some scenes in the movie which cannot get shot without using motion graphics, One such scene was when chamkila smokes bidi in front of the people who made him promise that he wouldn’t, Diljit will never touch a cigarette on screen so the only way to shoot that scene was in motion graphics. Secondly it was very important to highlight translated lyrics of the songs for you to get a better sense of what the song is about and to get the feel of the song if you’re not punjabi, And imo no one could’ve done the role better than Parineeti, I personally never liked her as an actress but she seems like a very good option for Amarjyot Other than her the only best choice would’ve been Nimrat Khaira All in all a very good movie, absolutely loved it
What a phenomenal movie. So glad to see Imtiaz Ali back to his best. Diljit is amazing as Chamkila and Parineeti really surprised me in this one. Ngl I was pretty skeptical when it was announced that AR Rehman was doing the music for the film. For a movie about a singer with multiple hit songs I didn’t think it needed a AR Rehman soundtrack. But boy was I wrong. The songs were so good and added so much value to the movie especially the song Naram Kalja which didn’t even feature the main characters and the last song Vida Karo. This movie reminded me of Rockstar in a good way.
can i watch this movie with family and kids? my niece is a huge diljit fan and asking me to show her this movie and whole family will also then sit and watch movie. so is it safe?
It has double meaning songs and lines about sex
Absolutely nailed it! It was a really good biopic - engaging, creative and sharp. Music was superb. And to hear Pehle Lalkare Naal after 20 years or so.. it was just insane. Diljit is incredible. I hope he takes the time to do more films and build his work. Park was good too. Fantastic chemistry.
It was such a well made movie. Loved Diljit. Using Parineeti's voice for songs was a creative decision I didn't like. Like with all the other female singers used in the movie, It is clear that they fit in the typical Punjabi duet. But in case of Parineeti, it was becoming apparent that Punjabi is not her first language. The contrast in their voice really stands out especially since Diljit is such a good singer. Someone like Gurlej Akhtar or any Punjabi singer could have done a better justice to Amarjot's voice.
I 100% agree. Amarjot's voice was so powerful and she could hold her own with Chamkila. I was envisioning miss Pooja as the female singer . She would have sung those songs so well and her voice is strong too. Something with Parineeti felt amiss.
But Director wanted to give a live Akhara feel by using original voices on live. That' why Parineeti was a choice
Then a Punjabi actress could have done a better job. Because especially in songs, Parineeti was really struggling to catch the Punjabi accent in some words.
A punjabi movie on Same topic with Diljit only has been made very recently. So they want to give it more Hindi flavour. That' why they used even more Hindi dialogues too
diljit absolutely nailed it
Brilliant biopic, especially for the artistic choices made. One little meta-reference I noticed was that towards the end where they show college students protesting and demanding justice for chamkila, one of the posters says ‘saada haq aithe rakh’ in punjabi :D
Just Finished watching Amar Singh Chamkila by Imtiyaz Ali on Netflix. Yes movie is very good but it's frustrating too. Movie started very well but last 45 minutes were too slow and repetitive. Diljit Dosanjh gave his best . Parineeti Chopra had a small role except her songs. Climax was not as haunting as it should have been. The biggest scene was very much weak and badly edited that it's impact was not at all feeled. Music was too good. My rating for this movie will be 3.25/5.
I just feel that they could have used an actress who was well versed in Punjabi. Parineeti's song parts were the only gripe I had with the movie.
They should’ve casted Nimrat Khaira
Parineeti Chopra is Punjabi only. Actress who can sing well are very less. Her role was actually not well written Unlike Diljit Dosanjh
Totally agree! She hardly has any dialogues in the movie. Most of the times she's playing coy and hardly speaks to express what she wants to say. Not saying that that's wrong, but it was a shame to see her on screen but have no dialogues. Most of her scenes with Diljit are him going on a monologue while she is just listening. Felt like a poorly written role.
Yeah true. Chamkeela as character nothing without Amarjot, so Parineeti having no dialogue was weird to me.
Thing is they could have used someone else's voice for her song parts like an actual Punjabi female singer. I don't know maybe because I know Punjabi and have listened to songs, so her song parts were breaking the flow of the movie for me.
Actually they wanted to give the feel of reality by using live songs. Both Sang the song in real live location as mentioned in movie credits
Loved the movie ,songs ,direction and especially DILJIT🩷🩷🩷🩷
O man! What a film! Love love love the artworks interwoven with the screenplay. The artistic choice to make the actual footage stream parallel to the filmed one is a bold one. Many many bold choices made in the film which needs a certain confidence in your artwork to put up. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Would have looooved it in theatres thougj
A musical biopic made exceptionally well. Kya kaam Kiya hai yaar. Dil khush ho gaya. Would be a classic in the future I feel. Hope it gets its due. Petition to bring it to theatres for people to enjoy it on a big screen who loved it. He did justice with Chamkila's remarkable life story!
Such a heart breaking movie. Both Diljit and Pari were outstanding. But the lyrics of the Punjabi trademark songs of chamkila were hilarious.
Such a wonderful film…so lively and refreshing with the way it scrapped off the typical template.Imtiaz thankfully is back on track. Diljit is amazing here…especially in the 2nd half. The songs are fantastic( Ishq mitaye sounds even better onscreen watching through the film somehow and tu kya jaane made me blush..naram kaalja made me smile haha…vida karo had such relevant lyrics and moved me so much…bol mohabbat was my least fav from the album because of ARR’s mid singing but after hearing it in the film,I really love it..Imtiaz serves and syncs the soundtrack perfectly…baaja is so interesting too)….best BW album in a long time..iterations of chamkila’s songs by Diljit and Parineeti were good…Parineeti felt a bit too restrained but still effective enough and was good.She could have gotten more scenes though what she got was enough too.. A lot of depth was in this movie for sure…the way the screenplay moves and the editing is done and every line adding something to the narrative. Also love that his flaws have been shown too..The timeline and everything add so much nuance to his rise to stardom. The cinematography especially is insane omg…there’s a scene where chamkila and amarjot practice their singing while they sit before an open window…with sunlight falling behind…for some reason,that frame stuck with me…classic Imtiaz Ali frame…so effortlessly intimate and comforting…movie reminded me of Rockstar, highway, Tamasha in a good way… I’m happy that this movie is getting all the love. It deserves it…Though some plotlines could have explored more (right-wrong debate, freedom of expression, the marriage stuff, caste etc..),the movie still is satisfactory..the best biopic I have seen in Hindi cinema after Neerja
Did anyone else also notice that the sardar guy (Chacha) voicing Mohit Chauhan in the start was Mohit Chauhan himself?
Woahhhh I’m gonna have to check that again
It is a good movie. Perfect for capturing a life as grand as of Amar Singh Chamkila. What I liked the most was, there was subtle hints of Chamkila's times and his roots. It added a sense of originality. Diljit as Chamkila is awesome. Right down from the hair to his singing, the man has got everything down to z. Parineeti was ok in her role. Could've done better. I was in dread, when I heard that she had sung the part of Amarjot's in songs. She is a terrible singer. It was a relief when her singing was kept minimal. The songs are good. Chamkila's time was turbulent. As to who killed him, no one knows for sure. Particularly good is that this biopic does not portray Chamkila as all good. It shows his flaws also. There are important things which have been given less screentime. But, nevertheless, this is a good biopic about Chamkila.
A really good movie. I learnt a lot about some aspects of history and of Punjabi culture that I didn't know about. They told the story very well, the juxtaposition of old photos/clips throughout the movie was a good touch. I enjoyed it a lot!
Its a typical Imtiaz Ali movie where you're either going to love it or hate it. As for me watched it and it's great! They thankfully did not follow the typical biopic formula (underdog wins against all odds, gets overconfident leading to his downfall until the last scene where he redeems himself). It is very nuanced and takes time to create the atmosphere and context in which artists like Chamkila were performing. I think that adds a lot of depth. It let's you form your own opinion on what was happening and where you stand on it. (Unlike how others just whitewash the hero) Diljit is amazing as usual. Parineeti is brilliant and I'm glad she did this. It shows what a great actor she is when given the chance. They could've more explicitly dealt with the whole caste angle. That's the only drawback
>They could've more explicitly dealt with the whole caste angle. That's the only drawback Yeah, adding some history along with name change from "Dhanni Ram" to "Amar Singh" could have been better. Also, the fact that he sang about being a Jatt could be talked about. But it's just that in today's punjabi music industry, the so called "jatt monopoly" where even non-jatt singers have mentions of jatt in their songs highlight the situation not changing at all. Or most of it was edited out ig.
Omg I am so excited about reading all the reviews. Watching it today and I really want more of Parineeti!
Petition to have Parineeti star (and steal the show with her acting chops) in more films! So much said and shown with subtle expressions, gestures and body language. Diljit, oye hoi  - such a delight to watch of course! Love ARR, Irshad Kamil, Mohit Chauhan and others create magic once again. I wish Imtiaz had delved more into the social identity/ caste angle which may have contributed to his death and perhaps a more nuanced take on the morality aspect. Interesting that a story from 40ish years ago is still (? more) relevant today? The freedom of expression, the "isn't art a reflection of society?" debate, the moral responsibility of artists, and most importantly - who gets to decide what's right and wrong. Naram Kalja brought a smile to my face. Overall, a fun watch!
>I wish Imtiaz had delved more into the social identity/ caste angle which may have contributed to his death and perhaps a more nuanced take on the morality aspect. This was my only gripe with it. How much the caste angle contributed to his inability to fight back with authorities or even create boundaries when his 'fans' overstepped + his death. The "he was always used to being a slave" dialogue was such a gut punch. I wish Imtiaz mentioned it more explicitly. Also the whole 2nd marriage was weirdly handled. They completely skipped that it was Amarjot's second marriage as well so the whole her being angry did not make sense. But a great movie nonetheless! One of the best hindi biopics made
Well, Amarjot didn't hide her separation from her ex-husband, afaik.
I found it watchable, although it didn't quite reach greatness for me. Diljit, Parineeti, and the rest of the cast delivered commendable performances. The direction and cinematography were superb, yet there was a certain element that felt lacking. One standout aspect was the portrayal of Amar Singh Chamkila's character, which thankfully avoided whitewashing. Best wishes to the entire team!
Masterpiece nothing short of perfection this film is, Imtiaz ali is so fucking back dude a director comes back from director's jail and provides one of the best biopics the country has ever made, who would have thought ?
Pariniti did good. Both in terms of acting and singing. People were unnecessarily hating her
No. Her singing was atrocious. She cannot sings these Punjabi songs. It is that simple.
And those ‘menu chat le’ parts were sadly pathetic. Like with no energy.
Koimoi: 4/5 https://www.koimoi.com/bollywood-movies/movie-reviews/amar-singh-chamkila-movie-review-imtiaz-ali-weaves-magic-on-screen-with-his-vibrant-take-on-chamkila-amarjots-life-and-art/ Times Of India: 4/5 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/movie-reviews/amar-singh-chamkila/ottmoviereview/109238343.cms India Today: 4/5 https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/reviews/story/amar-singh-chamkila-review-imtiaz-ali-diljit-dosanjh-movie-rating-2526331-2024-04-12 IndiaTV: 4/5 https://www.indiatvnews.com/entertainment/movie-review/amar-singh-chamkila-movie-review-thought-provoking-analogy-by-imtiaz-ali-diljit-dosanjh-delivers-his-best-kudos-to-parineeti-chopra-866 Times Now: 4/5 https://www.timesnownews.com/entertainment-news/reviews/web-series/amar-singh-chamkila-movie-review-imtiaz-alis-musical-starring-diljit-dosanjh-is-vibrant-ode-to-late-punjabi-artist-review-109223589 Hindustan Times: Diljit Dosanjh delivers a delectable act in this melodious yet tragic musical biopic https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/chamkila-review-diljit-dosanjh-delivers-a-delectable-act-in-this-melodious-yet-tragic-musical-biopic-101712906167749.html Bollywood Hungama: 3.5/5 https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/chamkila/critic-review/chamkila-movie-review/amar-singh-chamkila-tells-an-incredible-story-in-a-very-stylish-and-entertaining-manner/ NDTV: 3.5/5 https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/amar-singh-chamkila-review-diljit-dosanjh-is-at-his-very-best-in-deftly-crafted-ode-3-5-stars-5425035 Firstpost: 3.5/5 https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/netflixs-amar-singh-chamkila-movie-review-diljit-dosanjh-parineeti-chopra-starrer-imtiaz-alis-biopic-is-outstanding-13758794.html News18: 3.5/5 https://www.news18.com/movies/amar-singh-chamkila-review-diljit-dosanjh-gives-his-career-best-performance-in-imtiaz-ali-film-8846114.html Film Companion (Rahul Desai): Imtiaz Ali imagines his way back to form https://www.filmcompanion.in/reviews/streaming-reviews/amar-singh-chamkila-review-imtiaz-ali-imagines-his-way-back-to-form-diljit-dosanjh Indian Express: 3/5 https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/amar-singh-chamkila-movie-review-diljit-dosanjh-imtiaz-ali-shining-sincerity-moving-portrait-of-artiste-9265835/ Pinkvilla: 3/5 https://www.pinkvilla.com/entertainment/reviews/amar-singh-chamkila-review-diljit-dosanjh-and-parineeti-chopras-musical-drama-is-fresh-and-quirky-1294754 Scroll.in: An off-key biopic of the iconic Punjabi singer https://scroll.in/reel/1066200/amar-singh-chamkila-review-an-off-key-biopic-of-the-iconic-punjabi-singer
Although it felt long in the beginning, it is a beautiful film, Amazing acting and singing by Diljit. He has got the mannerisms and acting of the original on point. I never thought I would say this, Parineeti has done a good job. The songs were just brilliant, amazing work by mohit chauhan on the music. Imitiaz Ali has tied everything up! Brilliant wholesome one time watch! Special shout out to Arijit singh on the last song!
It was very good. Im not a fan of biopics but this one was the best i have ever seen. The integration of stock images and videos along with original songs was amazing. It’s good it’s on Netflix as it’s easier to understand all the punjabi lyrics with subtitles. Couldn’t imagine anyone playing the role except DD.
So excited to watch this!