‘Amar Singh Chamkila’: The Elvis of Punjab
Movie Review
Siddhu Moosewala was not the first and certainly not the last singer to be shot dead in Punjab, India.
Amar Singh Chamkila was another controversial record-breaking artist who had broken stereotypes. For this, he had to face the death penalty from the self-proclaimed gatekeepers of society.
Imtiaz Ali’s movie Amar Singh Chamkila was released on Netflix recently and opened to great reviews.
While it did follow the storyline of every typical biopic — aka The Rise of a Star — it also delved into the complexities of caste and class barriers.
Chamkila — meaning sparkly in Punjabi and Hindi — was from a lower caste in India, which meant derision and exclusion from the upper echelons of society throughout his life.
But it was his lyrics that both made him a bestseller as well as an outrage in the state of Punjab. He boldly chose to comment on the unseen in our society. He was the first artist to comment on the sexual tensions in Indian families — and did so in a musically humorous, and therefore accessible, manner.
He and his duet partner, and later wife, Amarjot Kaur sang songs that commented on the eccentricities of family life. These are often those transgressions that are pushed under the rug in the conservative Indian society.
For instance, Vaithaiya Jeth Tainu (Congratulations to my Brother-in-law) is a song in which a woman congratulates her brother-in-law on having a child at a very old age.
Jeth mere da chal gaya sikka
Pichli umre Nyana nikka
Hojaye rab da paana
is umre chal gaya sikka sadi purana
Dive sookhe qabran utte
Bada hi Changa Hoya
Vadhaiyan Jeth Tainu
My Brother-in-law’s coin has worked
At this age, he has borne a child
God has blessed him so,
His old coin has worked at this age
While his shrunken body
is on the edge of death
Very fortunate for him,
Congratulations brother-in-law!
Needless to say, the coin is the penis of the old man who has somehow had a child at his age.
In an orthodox age where grooms’ and brides’ marriages were arranged without so much as a glance exchanged between them — Chamkila’s lyrics were revolutionary.
Take for instance another gem — Sikhar Dupehre Nahaundi Si (Bathing in the Afternoon Sun). The narrator is complaining about a man watching her while she was bathing.
While she is distraught, her lover promises to get revenge and beat the guy black and blue.
While it did verge on objectification of women, the song lyrics were an everyday reality in the rural areas of Punjab.
This is what made Chamkila popular in the first place — his realist depiction of the convoluted sexual dynamics in Punjab.
However, this was unacceptable to the gatekeepers of modesty and religious righteousness — and thus Amarjot and Chamkila were shot point blank on 8 March 1988.
While Chamkila’s original songs are worth checking out, the movie’s songs, composed by Academy Award winner A.R. Rahman, superbly capture the rockstar that Chamkila was.
This is a great watch for your Friday night, curled up with some popcorn. Happy watching!
