Imtiaz Ali’s film on Amar Singh Chamkila and his wife Amarjot is streaming on Netflix.
In 1988, Punjabi singer Amar Singh Chamkila and his wife, Amarjot, were shot dead in Mehsampur, Punjab.
Imtiaz Ali’s recently released movie, Amar Singh Chamkila has once grabbed everyone’s attention towards the details of the Punjabi singer and his wife, Amarjot’s horrific murder in 1988. In a recent interview, the late singer’s secretary, Manku also recalled what happened on the tragic day when Chamkila and Amarjot were shot dead.
Manku was speaking to Cine Punjabi when he revealed that Chamkila was paid Rs 8000 for his last show. He recalled that Chamkila and Amarjot wanted to have a meal before their performance and therefore, he left them to eat while he went near the stage to check if all the arrangements were in place. After checking everything, Manku called Chamkila and Amarjot over, saying, “Everything’s ready, come on.”
“The shooters were among the crowd. They could have shot him on the way. They could have shot him after he’d stepped onto the stage. Who knows, even I might have been shot if they’d fired at the stage. But they waited. Chamkila arrived in his car in grand fashion, it was a scene straight out of a movie. I said, ‘Put your hands together, Chamkila is here’.’ No sooner than I’d said this, I heard loud bangs,” he said in Punjabi.
However, even before Manku could realise anything, he saw Chamkila fall near the car. Realising what had happened, Manku jumped off the stage. Initially, he thought, “You aren’t getting out of this alive.” But he was then told that Chamkila’s killers performed bhangra after murdering him. Not just this, he also revealed that the killers had also left a letter on Chamkila’s chest which got drenched in blood.
“One person next to me described what she saw, I was too scared to look out. She said, ‘There are three men, they’re doing the bhangra. They’ve kept a letter on Chamkila’s chest’. I saw that letter later, I read it. It was drenched in blood. They left on scooters. I picked up the bodies myself,” he added.
Imtiaz Ali’s Amar Singh Chamkila stars Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra in the lead. The film is currently streaming on Netflix.
