Have you heard the name of Amar Singh Chamkila? An artist who sparked a sensation in Punjab, India in the 1980s, whose voice was silenced at the age of 27; The mystery of whose death has not been solved even today, the murderer has not been found. Imtiaz Ali is making a movie about that artist, AR Rehman will be directing the music, Irshad Kamil is writing the lyrics, Mohit Chauhan is returning to the playback. Punjabi artist and actor Diljit Dosanjh will be seen playing the role of Amar Singh Chamkila, with Parineeti Chopra playing his wife Amarjaut.
The word Chamkila means ‘bright’ in Punjabi. This epithet was added to Amar Singh’s name by his music guru Surinder Shinda. At the age of eighteen, Amar went to learn music from Surinder. Amar’s talent did not go unnoticed by Surinder, so he gave the disciple this nickname.
Chamkila’s rise in the early eighties, he used to throng every stage show to listen to his music. Music records were sold in the market, and cassettes were sold. No contemporary artist came close to Chamkila in terms of sales of those records and cassettes. Chamkilai was the highest paid singer among Punjabi singers. Chamkila used to perform on stage with his wife Amarjot Kaur, the duo was loved by the audience.
Then came the day of March 8, 1988. Chamkila went to perform a stage show in Mehsampur, Punjab. Suddenly, some assailants on some bikes attacked their car, Chamkila’s body was riddled with bullets, his wife Amarjot also died. The bloodied body of Punjab’s most famous artist was lying inside the car. 36 years have passed since that incident, even today the killers have not been identified, no one has been arrested, the reason for the murder is not known.
Three answers come forward in response to the question of who can kill Chamkila. Many people think that Chamkila could not bear the popularity of any contemporary artist who killed him. Someone brought up the issue of family feud again. They think that Chamkila’s wife Amarjot’s family did the murder. Amarjot’s family could not accept marrying Chamkila against the family’s wishes. Moreover, the way she used to sing on stage next to her husband, that too was not liked by the conservative family. That is why they may have sent killers to kill the daughter and son-in-law.
Many see the hand of politics behind this murder. They said some of Chamkila’s songs sneered at the Khalistanists of Punjab. So they killed Chamkila. However, the Chamkila murder case has been recorded as an unsolved mystery in the Dhulojma file of the Punjab Police. Will Imtiaz Ali be able to remove the layer of dust from the file by making a biopic of Amar Singh Chamkila?
