Amar Singh Chamkila Plot Summary
After a popular singer named Jinda fails to attend one of his shows, his underling and aspiring singer, Amar Singh Sandila, takes his place. The show is an instant success and Amar Singh takes on the stage name, Amar Singh Chamkila, as he’s introduced at his debut performance.
Following this, Chamkila’s songs reach immense popularity amongst the local population of truck drivers and lowlifes. Chamkila is not able to find a permanent female singer for his band. Soon, Amarjot Kaur’s father and brother bring her to work with Chamkila as the female singer for his band.
What happens when Amarjot decides to leave the band?
Amarjot joins Chamkila’s band and their popularity skyrockets. Within months, Chamkila books more and more shows while also releasing new songs that are a hit amongst the masses. Despite the scrutiny over the overtly sexual lyrics in Chamkila’s songs, the singer has reached new heights of popularity. One day, Amarjot’s father asks her to quit singing with the band as Chamkila is unmarried.
The man claims that he did not want Amarjot to have an affair with the singer who wrote filthy songs. Chamkila learns that Amarjot is planning on quitting the band and takes his friend – Tikki’s advice. He hastily marries Amamrjot in a quick ceremony to stop her father from forcing her to leave the band.
Who is Gurmail Kaur?
News of Chamkila and Amarjot’s marriage is spread across Punjab, including Chamkila’s hometown – Dugri. Soon, Gurmail Kaur’s relatives show up to take Chamkila back to the village. Chamkila confesses to Tikki that he was already married to Gurmail Kaur and only married Amarjot to save the band.
In Dugri, the village council holds a meeting and accuses Chamkila of polygamy. Chamkila promises to pay Gurmail a heavy monthly compensation for her living expenses as well as the care of his two daughters. Chamkila convinces the village council with his words and gets out of this predicament scot-free.
What happens when Chamkila returns to join Amarjot and the band?
Chamkila manages to also convince Amarjot and promises that he has taken care of the Gurmail situation. However, the Sikh riots of 1984 changed Punjab and artists started losing their livelihoods due to the tense situation in the state.
Tikki advises Chamkila to continue to release his new songs to help the masses overcome the trauma of the riots. Chamkila releases his songs and they get even more popular than before, selling tenfold in comparison to other artists. One day, Chamkila gets an anonymous death threat which scares him off.
How does Chamkila react to the death threats?
Chamkila meets a religious leader who asks him to use his melodious voice for good. He decides to do as advised and writes devotional and spiritual songs in comparison to his usual genre. The spiritual songs also sell well but Chamkila’s fans force him to sing his older hit songs at one show.
Chamkila tries to reason with the fans and tells them how he had changed his ways of singing and would not go back to singing songs with sexual innuendos. The fans are persistent which makes Chamkila give in. Soon, Chamkila and the band are called to Canada for a show. He agrees to go but leaves Tikki behind which has him lose his best friend of many years.
What happens after Chamkila returns from Canada?
Chamkila has a personality shift in Canada after he learns that he is more popular in the country than Bollywood superstar, Amitabh Bachchan. One of Chamkila’s friends asks him to stay in Canada for a while as the death threats against him are getting dangerous by the day.
Chamkila tells his friend that staying in Canada would soon cause his popularity to dwindle. Chamkila and Amarjot return to Punjab and get back to performing at their regular shows.
How does Amar Singh Chamkila end?
One day, as Chamkila and Amarjot and their bandmates head to one of their shows, they are shot dead by gunmen hiding in the audience. Chamkila and Amarjot’s dead bodies are taken to their house. The police try to determine who killed Chamkila and Amarjot but are not able to find a culprit among the people known to them.
The next morning, Amarjot and Chamkila’s family arrive to collect the dead bodies. Gurmail Kaur notices how Amarjot’s father was more concerned about the money kept in the couple’s bedroom instead of their deceased daughter. Meanwhile, the cops close the murder case due to a lack of evidence. Amar Singh Chamkila and Amarjot Kaur are laid to rest as per the Sikh traditions as the film comes to an end.
Read More: Amar Singh Chamkila (2024) Movie Review