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Imtiaz Ali admits Amar Singh Chamkila wasn’t a 'neat, clean' person; reveals why he didn’t glorify him in film
Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali has finally opened up on why he didn't glorify Amar Singh Chamkila in his recently released biopic and what influenced his debut in the genre of biopics.
Imtiaz Ali is riding on success after his recently released movie Amar Singh Chamkila met with massive positive response from the audience and critics alike. The movie stars Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra in the lead and is a biopic of popular Punjabi singer Amar Singh Chamkila who was gunned down in 1988 along with his wife.
The alleged reason for Chamkila’s assassination shown in films and publicized in the past has been his double-meaning songs which weren’t appreciated by a certain section of society. Imtiaz’s movie also featured some of the singer’s songs that were unfiltered and below the belt.
Why didn't Imtiaz Ali glorify Amar Singh Chamkila in his biopic?
Ali who made his debut in the genre of biopics with this one revealed that he never thought he’d make a biopic. So what was special about Amar Singh Chamkila?
Imtiaz told Mid-day, “In Chamkila’s story, there were so many things I felt I should address since they’ve been hidden from the audience. However, when depicting someone’s life, you should have the liberty — not to change the facts, but to represent all aspects of them. If you don’t show the mistakes they made, then what’s the point of glorifying them?”
Imtiaz Ali further said that he is not in favor of those biopics who endlessly glorify the person they are based on because it is ‘very boring’. In Chamkila’s case, the singer enjoyed a fair share of both love and hate and Imtiaz felt that he had to present the human side of Chamkila.
He continued, “I did not set out to make him come across as this neat and clean person, which he was not. This is also because I knew a few intrinsic good qualities of him... He has flaws.”
Imtiaz expressed that if he had glorified Chamkila then he would have become unrelatable. He added, “Sometimes it is the flaws and irregularities in a character that endear them to the audience. Then they know that this guy is human, thus enabling them to relate to and root for them.”
Amar Singh Chamkila is available to stream on Netflix.
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