Imtiaz Ali confirms that Chamkila was murdered due to his caste

Director Imtiaz Ali's movie 'Chamkila' is currently being talked about a lot. Imtiaz said that while making this film on the life of late Punjabi singer Amar Singh Chamkila, he wanted to present his true story along with his struggles to the public. The film tells the story of Chamkila's journey from being an ordinary person to being the 'Elvis of Punjab' and his murder. Using real photos of Chamkila and his wife, an attempt has been made in the film to present the reality by filming the scene at the very place where it happened.

While showing Chamkila's journey in this film, his caste is frequently mentioned. The film shows how caste affected Chamkila's life even after achieving success and fame. The song 'Vida Karo' sung by Arijit Singh presents Chamkila's struggle as a Dalit Sikh. Imtiaz Ali has reacted to the fact that Chamkila's caste is frequently mentioned in the film. Chamkila came from a disadvantaged caste, so it is important to talk about the loss he suffered, he said.

In an interview to 'Mid Day', Imtiaz said, "We who live in the cities are not connected to the people who live in the villages (where casteism exists), know nothing about the bulk of the people in our country. What matters to them, what are their problems, what is their loss, what is important to them, all these should be discussed. How can we ignore them? Are we going to fool ourselves into thinking that everyone in the country speaks the same English as us? The answer is – no.”

Imtiaz said that the film sees Chamkila as a public servant and not a star, “He was very humble, he never showed any flirtations. He came from a deprived background, he was always willing to do whatever anyone asked him to do, that's why he lost his life because he couldn't say no to anyone."

“Sometimes filmmakers should be allowed to talk about real issues in this country. I am glad that the audience remembers the underprivileged background that Chamkila came from after watching the film. Because if I were to make a film on his life, I would also have to show what caused his greatest loss. People form opinions about you based on things like social class and race. You shouldn't pretend it doesn't exist to condemn it," said Imtiaz.

The movie 'Chamkila' was released on April 12 on Netflix. It stars Diljit Dosanjh in the lead role and his wife Amarjot is played by Parineeti Chopra.