Diljit Dosanjh had not done Coachella when Imtiaz Ali signed him for ‘Chamkila’

Diljit Dosanjh, Imtiaz Ali

After the failure of ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal' and ‘Love Aaj Kal' at the box office, Imtiaz Ali bounced back with one of the most-watched films on Netflix this year - ‘Amar Singh Chamkila'. On the latest episode of Mid-day's Sit With Hitlist series, Imtiaz Ali reveals how he had signed Diljit Dosanjh for the titular role even before he became a global sensation.

Imtiaz said, "When we started out, Diljit was not a big star. He had not done Coachella when we signed with him. It kind of happened simultaneously. At the end of the film, which is always what it is, an actor, whatever his so-called market value is, can be different by the time your film releases. So you also have to factor that. He became a very big star."

He continued, "For Hindi films, he was not such a big tested star. People said, ‘Iske kitni opening lagaye'. There is no calculation, there is no basis for what a Diljit Dosanjh can fetch. If it is some number that he can fetch."

Imtiaz Ali shared that he had watched ‘Udta Punjab' and ‘Phillauri' starring Diljit and also knew of him since he sang the song ‘Raula' in ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal'. "I knew that he's a very good actor plus a Punjabi pop star already."

The filmmaker further shared how Diljit knew more about Chamkila than he did since he had done a similar film ‘Jodi'. "So instead of me narrating anything to him, he narrated it to me. I said, ‘Nahi nahi yeh theek hai, koi baat nahi, we'll manage'."

Diljit is loved across the globe for his epic tracks and candid personality. He recently featured on ‘The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon'.

Coming to 'Amar Singh Chamkila', the film presents the untold true story of Punjab's original rockstar of the masses, who emerged from the shadows of poverty and rose to the heights of popularity in the eighties due to the sheer power of his music, angering many along the way for the provocative nature of his songs, which led to his assassination at the young age of 27. Parineeti Chopra essayed the role of Amar Singh Chamkila's wife, Amarjot Kaur.