Imtiaz Ali Says Chamkila-Amarjot Married Because They Were 'Desperate' People: 'They Couldn't Pretend'

Director Imtiaz Ali explored the complicated relationships of Amar Singh Chamkila, a famous folk musician from Punjab, with his two wives, Gurmail and Amarjot. Chamkila and Amarjot were tragically killed in 1988, a crime that remains unsolved. Imtiaz depicted this story in the Netflix film Amar Singh Chamkila, starring Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra.

In an interview, Imtiaz mentioned that Diljit felt uneasy discussing Chamkila’s first wife because he couldn’t understand how Chamkila must have felt telling her about his new relationship. The filmmaker suggested that Chamkila tried to ‘buy’ his freedom from Gurmail with money, feeling embarrassed about his situation.

In an interview with Fever FM, Imtiaz Ali talked about a scene where Chamkila confesses his marriage to Amarjot to Gurmail. He praised Diljit and Kul Sidhu for playing it sensitively. Imtiaz mentioned the emotional impact of a child actor’s tears and shooting in Ludhiana, where Chamkila lived. He shared that they removed dialogue from the scene, believing Chamkila would have little to say to Gurmail at that moment. “Diljit is very sensitive as an actor. Whenever the point of Gurmail used to come when I would tell him the story, he would become very sensitive. I would tell him about all the time they’d spent together before Chamkila became famous. The scene had dialogue earlier, but I cut them out, because I thought that Chamkila would have nothing to say to her,” he said.

Imtiaz shared that Chamkila was wary of his fame, knowing it exceeded his expectations. Despite the perks, he found it unfulfilling. Chamkila’s true dream was to be an electrician, but circumstances led him elsewhere. He felt marrying Amarjot was his only choice, as they were both desperate and saw no reason to hide it. “Society affords celebrities certain liberties, and Chamkila exploited these liberties, but this made him unhappy. He knew that it was all superficial. This man’s ambition was to become an electrician. He dropped out after the fifth grade. Every success that he had was more than he’d ever imagined, and he felt that he couldn’t lose this opportunity. He knew that he had no option when it came to marrying Amarjot. They decided to be together because they were desperate people, and there was no reason to pretend any longer,” he said.

Gurmail now lives in Punjab, as do her two daughters.