After months of wait and anticipation, the trailer of Imtiaz Ali's Chamkila, starring Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra in the lead roles, was unveiled by the makers on Thursday, and it sure did live up to the hype that the film announcement and songs had generated. Based on the life of renowned singer Amar Singh Chamkila, the film is set to show the rise of the 'Elvis Presley of Punjab', until his assassination at the age of 27.
The 2-minute-37-second trailer is enough to give the audience an idea of what to expect from the film. The trailer opens with Diljit narrating his story of how he became one of the highest record-selling artist of his time from a meagre local making socks for a living.
Even in the trailer, Diljit manages to engage the viewer for those two minutes with his honest act. He proves why only he could have played the role with utmost dedication and craft, and despite having a Punjabi set-up, can grab eyeballs for the film from all parts of India.
From the looks of it, Parineeti fits the role of the quintessential Punjabi kudi to the T, but with no dialogues in the trailer, we have been left asking for a bit more about her character.
The strongest point of the trailer is undoubtedly its music, and the same is expected in the film as well, since the whole story is based on the life of a singer and his controversial music. Throughout the trailer, the music can be seen playing a key role in setting the mood and narrating the story of Chamkila and Amarjot Kaur.
AR Rahman and Imtiaz Ali sure know their music, and if the trailer is to go by, it seems that we already have a list of chartbusters trending at every event at least for the next six months.
As the trailer proceeds, it shows the growing dissent of the people of Punjab over the controversial songs, or as they say, "gande gaane", written and recorded by Chamkila and his wife, and also the couple's firm determination and passion towards their craft. But the tale comes to an end with the assassination of Chamkila and Amarjyot, thus, closing what could have been one of the biggest chapters of Punjabi music forever.
After much back and forth over the past couple of years, Chamkila has finally resorted to taking the OTT route. The film is set to release on Netflix on April 12, 2024.
