Shah Rukh Khan once called Chamkila star Diljit Dosanjh ‘the best actor in the country’- Imtiaz Ali

Diljit Dosanjh and Shah Rukh Khan

Imtiaz Ali's ‘Amar Singh Chamkila' has just been released on Netflix, and the film is receiving rave reviews from critics and audiences alike. Starring Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra in lead roles, the movie charts the untold true story of Punjab's original rockstar of the masses, Amar Singh Chamkila.

Diljit Dosanjh plays the lead role in the film, and we couldn't imagine anyone else in his place. Imtiaz Ali, while praising the Punjabi actor and singer on the Great Indian Kapil Show, shared that he could have never made the film without Diljit. The director, while praising ‘Crew' actor, shared that Shah Rukh Khan had once told him, "Diljit Dosanjh is the best actor in the country."

Imtiaz, while conversing with Kapil, revealed, "Shah Rukh Khan once told me that Diljit Dosanjh is the best actor in the country. I feel that if Diljit paaji had refused to do this film, then we could have never made it. So, we were very lucky. We couldn't have asked for a better cast than this, both are extremely good. Parineeti is an actor, singer, and someone who was immediately ready to put on 15 kilograms for her character. It was nice and comforting."

Imitiaz Ali on casting Diljit Dosanjh

Many of us think that there could be no other actor who can ace the role better than him. But did you know Imtiaz Ali was skeptical about casting Diljit in the lead role?

Imtiaz, in an interview with Pinkvilla, shared, "I also feel when I watch them together or separately that I couldn't have imagined or there could've been nobody who could've played Chamkila or Amarjot except for Diljit and Parineeti. However, I wasn't sure whether it was gonna work out with Diljit for some reason. I thought he might not be able to do it, etc. So I didn't approach him in the beginning, but it's a little later that I did, the moment I spoke to him, it was just like a different chapter, and now it's a sure shot thing, and now I really can't imagine anybody else doing it."

About Amar Singh Chamkila

Amar Singh Chamkila was the highest record-selling artist of his time, who emerged from the shadows of poverty and rose to the heights of popularity in the 80s due to the sheer power of his music, angering many on the way, which finally led to his assassination at the young age of 27.