When Imtiaz won over Diljit Dosanjh

Diljit Dosanjh

He had a plan, but the pandemic played spoilsport. Diljit Dosanjh always wanted to make a film on the legendary Punjabi musician Amar Singh Chamkila. Although he didn't get the rights to tell the singer's story, his film Jodi is a fictional account of Chamkila's life. When filmmaker Imtiaz Ali approached him to play Chamkila in his Netflix film, Chamkila, Dosanjh was surprised. He shared that he never thought Bollywood was equipped to make a film on Chamkila, but Ali's take on the late musician surprised him.

At Netflix's event where the streaming platform announced its upcoming slate, Dosanjh said, "I thought he would sue us, as he had the rights to Chamkila's story. But Imtiaz sir said, ‘I want to cast you for the film.'" Blown away by Ali's perspective, the singer-actor says, "It was a film about Chamkila, and whom I don't know."
Besides Ali's Chamkila, also starring Parineeti Chopra, the streaming giant announced 21 titles - films and series included. The slate included Honey Singh's documentary - Yo Yo Honey Singh: Famous, and Aamir Khan's son Junaid Khan's debut, period film Maharaj.