The screening of Netflix’s upcoming release Amar Singh Chamkila was held yesterday at a multiplex in Mumbai by Jio MAMI and it had a huge turnout. After the screening, Imtiaz Ali had a conversation with Sucharita Tyagi about the making of the film and a lot more.
Amar Singh Chamkila screening: Moviegoers clap and hoot as Imtiaz Ali describes the song ‘Naram Kaalja’ as “our item number featuring 300 HOT, sexy girls”
The number of viewers was more than the seats in the audi and hence, some had to sit in the aisle. Imtiaz drew parallels with the performances of the real Amar Singh Chamkila, which used to be similarly packed with his fans, “Before the show started, there were talks that the show is more than house full. I thought to myself, ‘Why won’t it happen?’. Chamkile ka ek bhi gaana aisa nahin hai jo hit nahin gaya. Unka ek bhi aisa akhaara nahin tha jo over full nahin gaya. Yeh uski film hai. Isko bhi house full hona tha! So, I feel there’s some spirit (of Chamkila blessing us) and it is a hit spirit. Woh aata hai toh log aate hai!”
One of the most interesting sequences in the film is a group of women singing ‘Naram Kaalja’ in admiration for Amar Singh Chamkila. When asked about it, Imtiaz Ali narrated, “You must have noticed that all the shaadi sangeet and extremely cultural folk songs in many places in India and perhaps even abroad tend to be a little bold and raunchy! Mostly, women sing these songs. I realized that women in Punjab, Bihar, Bengal etc for 100 years have been singing these songs. A R Rahman sir said that even in Tamil Nadu, there are songs like these.
He added, “During my research, I also came to know that Chamkila was very popular among women. That was intriguing for me. Darshan, the captain of a bhangra team in the 80s, was allowed to go into the girls’ hostel. This guy, who was helping us, said, ‘Jab main girls’ hotel mein jaata tha, toh raat ko sirf Chamkile ke tape baja karte the. Girls were listening only to Chamkila’. I started asking, ‘What is the connection over here?’. Then you realize what he sang and the way he sang those songs was much like ladies’ sangeet. That is what led us to ‘Naram Kaalja’.”
When Imtiaz Ali then remarked, “I am very glad you liked our item number featuring 300 hot, sexy girls,” there was a huge applause.
When asked about the actors looking at the camera while performing ‘Naram Kaalja’ and ‘Baaja’, he replied, “That was Rahman sir’s idea. He asked me, ‘How do we make this special? Why are you and I doing a film together? What (new) can we do’! Then, he came up with the idea of musical theatre, like in the West. I latched onto it because I knew that the audience, who’d come to see the film, would not have heard anything about Chamkila. I was assuming that people come in with zero information about Chamkila. Now, it was our responsibility to inform them in the best way possible and as early as possible in the film who he was, what people said about him…the whole legend of Chamkila. The music theatre idea came in handy for me in ‘Baaja’ to give the audience what people talked about it and what the truth could be.”
Also Read: Imtiaz Ali overjoyed at the premiere of Amar Singh Chamkila: “We are overwhelmed by the love”
More Pages: Amar Singh Chamkila Box Office Collection
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