As his film Amar Singh Chamkila heads to the 53rd International Emmys with nominations for TV Movie/Mini-Series and Best Performance, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali took a trip down memory lane and recalled shooting with Diljit Dosanjh at the exact spot where the controversial singer was killed.
He remembers vividly the day the crew returned to Mehsampur to recreate the death scene of Chamkila. “We were shooting the death scene at the exact spot where Chamkila was killed,” Imtiaz recalled. He added: “What struck all of us was how nothing had changed.
The house, the patch of ground outside it, even the koti where he had eaten lunch before he was shot, everything was exactly the same after 34 years.” After piecing together accounts from locals, the team located the precise point where Chamkila had collapsed after being gunned down.
“Watching Diljit playing Chamkila shoot for the scene and fall to his death on that same spot, it was bizarre, surreal, almost unsettling,” Imtiaz said. But the film had moments of electric joy too, Imtiaz added, as he talks about the one memory that comes to his mind every time he talks about the film.
“The most unique aspect of this film was the live performances of Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti, especially in the akhadas… It was challenging, but it turned into something spectacular,” he said. “With live musicians onstage, and Diljit and Parineeti singing in real time before large crowds in recreated concert setups across Punjab, the energy was unmatched.
Every word you hear in the film was recorded live. Nothing has been altered. The music you feel is the music we felt in that moment.” Imtiaz and Diljit have already left for New York. The winners will be announced on November 24 at the gala ceremony at the Big Apple.