Who was Amar Singh Chamkila, the subject of Imtiaz Ali's new biopic?

As Netflix dropped the first teaser of Imtiaz Ali's new film Amar Singh Chamkila, it has once again brought into focus the life and the tragic death of Punjabi singer Amar Singh Chamkila. Chamkila was shot dead at the age of 27 in 1988 - at the peak of his career. It has been over three decades since Chamkila's death but the late singer continues to inspire generations of musicians, especially in Punjab.

Imtiaz Ali helmed the biopic on the singer, which features actor Diljit Dosanjh in the titular role. The AR Rahman musical will also feature Parineeti Chopra as Chamkila's wife Amarjot Kaur, and will release on Netflix in 2024.

Who was Amar Singh Chamkila?

Born on July 21, 1960 as Dhani Ram, Chamkila had developed a loved for singing since childhood. He was the youngest child of Kartar Kaur and Hari Singh Sandila and studied in Gujar Khan Primary School in Dugri, a village in Punjab, a northern state of India. In the initial years, he worked in a cloth mill and sang part-time in various village road shows. He shot to fame when he recorded the song Takue te Takua which was an instant hit. As he became popular, he took up the stage name of Amar Singh Chamkila. Chamkila in Punjabi means shiny.

Also see:Amar Singh Chamkila teaser: Diljit Dosanjh to play popular Punjabi singer in Imtiaz Ali's new film

He sang several hit duets with popular female Punjabi singers including Surinder Sonia, Amar Noorie and others.

Chamkila was struggling to find a long-term co-singer to record songs with until fellow Punjabi singer Kuldeep Manak suggested Amarjot Kaur who became Chamkila's permanent singing partner in subsequent years and the two reportedly got married.

Amar Singh Chamkila, the star

While he became a rage, his songs often were termed as controversial as they spoke of illicit romances, drugs and alcohol addiction. Some of the lyrics were termed brazen but they were also strong commentary on current affairs. The couple's appeal grew not only in Punjab, but they quickly raced to international stardom among Punjabis abroad. Chamkila's popularity grew so much that it was believed that he had more bookings than days in a year.

The biography Awaz Mardi Nahinby Gulzar Singh Shaunki stated that at the height of his popularity, Chamkila had performed 366 shows in 365 days.

Assassination

Bollywood music composer Amit Trivedi had once called Chamkila the 'Elvis of Punjab' because of his immense popularity. Chamkila, however, died a tragic death at the height of his career. On 8 March 1988, the singer and his wife Amarjot Kaur had arrived to perform at Mehsampur, Punjab when they both were gunned down by a gang of motorcyclists fatally wounding the couple and two of their band members. The deaths stunned his fans across the world but the murder case remains unsolved to date. No arrests were ever made in connection to their murder and the case remained unsolved. It was alleged that they were shot by Sikh militants while some reports claim that it was the work of the other bandmates.