I had high expectations from this given the great team behind it, but within an hour, I knew it is not working for me. The main appeal of a biopic is how intriguing the central character is, and in this film, Chamkila, just didn't carry that charisma for me. Diljit Dosanjh tries but there is no spark, no connection, no passion that one should ideally feel while watching musical biopics (think Ray, Elvis, Bohemian Rhapsody, Walk The Line). All he does is try hard at looking innocent and lost in an artistic way. I did appreciate the storytelling experiments, the brilliant songs by AR Rahman (which again can well exist outside the film, they just don't add to the narration in any fruitful way except make it more ambiguous and hence 'poetic' for the cool kids), the camerawork and the lighting making it all very lived in and authentic. Some of the female singers who sing with Chamkila are good too, and they look quite close to reality. However, the film goes down several notches just as Parineeti Chopra enters the frame. She just doesn't look believable as Amarjyot. There is no earthiness to her, her portrayal is just drab and devoid of any color or mischief or energy, the parlor look not helping. I kept waiting for the film to get better but unfortunately it was a messy narration aided with a confused premise. It feels like the director couldn't decide what side to take, between showing Chamkila in a good light and society in a bad, he does start off well, but then it gets so repetitive. There is just no growth in the story. All we keep hearing is, there is this great artist who makes music that sells, and so what if the lyrics are banal/sleazy, it is what the society wants. That's the entire crux of the film. In between you see few things being inserted in the story like his Canada trip, the romantic track (which again feels so filmy and fake), his occasional Rockstar/rebellious moments, his attempts to make religious songs and abide by the religious heads (again shown in a very cynical light).
Towards the end the director starts gathering points to the tragic finale, you see several dialog and sequences that hint at the certain ending rather overtly. But again there is no sense of drama, purpose or thrill to it. The scenes are just so cold that by the time the inevitable end comes, you are just left indifferent.
I feel this film is flawed on so many levels. As someone who has seen the village shows and heard the music of this genre growing up in 80s/90s Rajasthan and Punjab, the live/akhada sequences in the film have just no iota of realism. Just watch any clip of the duo on YouTube and you will see such energy and spark in their performance, which the film just doesn't have. It might work for someone who has never seen the culture up close, and that's another reason why Netflix has produced it, their favorite thing to do is to show India in a bad light, immoral, backward and irredeemable.
Another aspect is the language. While the setting is that of rural Punjab, the characters speak in mixed-Hindi and Punjabi. Why? If the film has subtitles, why can't the characters speak in authentic Punjabi, why this Bollywood-ization of the language? Even if you watch any commercial Punjabi films (quite a few available on Netflix, try Honeymoon for starters), you will find an undeniable earthiness be it the actors or the dialog or the scenes, which is missing here.
The film's take away is that Chamkila was an artist too good for his times. There is just no attempt at showing the larger landscape. If one were to trust the film, there are no artists from Punjab that have come as good as Chamkila. I find this not only preposterous but heavily irresponsible. Unfortunately, majority of audience who will watch this across the world will walk away with that knowledge. To them I can just say, while Chamkila may be good, there are just so many more brilliant artists from Punjab of 70s to 90s, no one may make a flashy, exotified movie on them but they exist in the galaxy of stars too.
Towards the end the director starts gathering points to the tragic finale, you see several dialog and sequences that hint at the certain ending rather overtly. But again there is no sense of drama, purpose or thrill to it. The scenes are just so cold that by the time the inevitable end comes, you are just left indifferent.
I feel this film is flawed on so many levels. As someone who has seen the village shows and heard the music of this genre growing up in 80s/90s Rajasthan and Punjab, the live/akhada sequences in the film have just no iota of realism. Just watch any clip of the duo on YouTube and you will see such energy and spark in their performance, which the film just doesn't have. It might work for someone who has never seen the culture up close, and that's another reason why Netflix has produced it, their favorite thing to do is to show India in a bad light, immoral, backward and irredeemable.
Another aspect is the language. While the setting is that of rural Punjab, the characters speak in mixed-Hindi and Punjabi. Why? If the film has subtitles, why can't the characters speak in authentic Punjabi, why this Bollywood-ization of the language? Even if you watch any commercial Punjabi films (quite a few available on Netflix, try Honeymoon for starters), you will find an undeniable earthiness be it the actors or the dialog or the scenes, which is missing here.
The film's take away is that Chamkila was an artist too good for his times. There is just no attempt at showing the larger landscape. If one were to trust the film, there are no artists from Punjab that have come as good as Chamkila. I find this not only preposterous but heavily irresponsible. Unfortunately, majority of audience who will watch this across the world will walk away with that knowledge. To them I can just say, while Chamkila may be good, there are just so many more brilliant artists from Punjab of 70s to 90s, no one may make a flashy, exotified movie on them but they exist in the galaxy of stars too.