Imtiaz Ali: ‘Had to Cut the Scene’: Chamkila Had a Child with Gurmail Following Amarjot

Social media users are still talking about Imtiaz Ali’s Amar Singh Chamkila even more than two weeks after it was released on Netflix. In addition to receiving a favorable review from reviewers and viewers, Chamkila’s family has also given the movie a thumbs up. His family, which included the late musician’s first wife Gurmail and their son Jaiman, attended the film’s Mumbai premiere.

Imtiaz now says in an exclusive interview with News18 Showsha that he played a key role in bringing the family back together after the screening. “The relatives of Amarjot and Gurmail were there and attempted to take individual photos with me. However, I informed them that it was only an image. Jaiman gives Gurmail’s mother a call. He informs us that while bad things happen in life, it’s always for the best if everyone can remain together.

He remarks, “After she saw the film with her daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren, she told me that she loved it,” referring to Gurmail’s reaction to the movie about her late husband and his second wife. She sobbed and gave me a hug. Everyone became emotional. At that time, she gave incredibly great remarks.

It’s interesting to note that Imtiaz thinks the movie has “potential to develop Chamkila and Gurmail’s story.” “Chamkila had a lot of intriguing things happen in her life, which also broadens the story’s scope. There was a great deal more that transpired between them. Thus, I found it quite difficult to distill everything while retaining the interesting and timely subjects,” he says.

He discloses that not many people are aware that Gurmail conceived another child after Amarjot gave birth to Jaiman, and the director had written a script to depict it. “After having a kid with Amarjot, he had another child with Gurmail. Chamkila’s sister has given me an explanation of the situation. I have that on file, and I wrote a scene about it as well, but I had to cut it short since it didn’t seem to be as pertinent as the other scenes,” he says.

“I couldn’t show too much of her in the film because that part of Chamkila’s life was hidden from Amarjot and the whole world,” the Rockstar and Jab We Met director continues. The fact that he had another wife wasn’t made clear until much later in the movie. To get the video to the length it has now, I had to do a lot of paper editing. However, I concur that their connection might have shown a lot more.

Imtiaz continues by revealing details about a side of Chamkila and Gurmail’s marriage that was not included in the finished version of the Diljit Dosanjh film. “They experienced many fascinating events during their lives. Gurmail was older by six years than Chamkila. He received a bicycle after they were married. Following the wedding, Chamkila rode as the pillion rider for the most of the bike trip back to their house. He was less than sixteen, so they took turns, but he mostly sat in the backseat,” remarks an amused Imtiaz.