Amidst the ongoing debate on whether maestro A.R. Rahman and ace director Imtiaz Ali have justified the earthy flavour and emotional flux of Amar Singh Chamkila’s music in the upcoming biopic of the phenomenal Punjabi singer, the discussion about the role of Chamkila’s ethnic identity in shaping his art has resurfaced.
A section on social media has questioned Diljit Dosanjh for removing the turban to play Chamkila, a Dalit Sikh. They remind the artist who normalised a turbaned hero in Hindi cinema for turning back on his statement where he promised not to lose his turban for a film role.
Those who believe in cinematic dharma, however, feel that the actor has done the right thing by keeping his look as close to the character as possible. The previous attempts to capture the artist’s journey, one of which featured Diljit in a turban (Jodi, 2023), were fictionalised accounts because the makers didn’t have the rights to film Chamkila’s biopic.
