In music-themed ‘Chamak’, looking for the ‘spirit of Punjab’ beyond its stereotypes

In the beginning, there was singer Amar Singh Chamkila. Then came Dilshad Akhtar and finally rapper Sidhu Moosewala. All three were shot dead in public view in Punjab. Chamkila was gunned down in 1988, Akhtar in 1996, and Moosewala in 2022.

Why does a shadow of death hang over Punjabi musicians? The question led Rohit Jugraj to create Chamak. Six of 12 episodes will be premiered on Sony LIV on December 7.

Chamak tracks Kaala (Paramvir Singh Cheema), a small-time criminal who travels to Punjab from Canada to become a rapper. Kaala is the son of Taara Singh (Gippy Grewal), a legendary singer who was shot dead on stage.

“Punjabi musicians always have one foot outside the country, be it in Canada, UK, US, Australia or New Zealand, the reason being extortions and threats,” Jugraj told Scroll. “Where there’s tremendous money, crime follows. I had planned it as a film initially called Soundscape Punjab, but there’s so much material, I had to turn it into a series.”

The press note promises a trip through “politics, business feuds, family history, and possible honor killings” as Kaala excavates “the underbelly of the Punjabi music industry”. The cast includes Manoj Pahwa, Mohit Malik, Isha Talwar, Mukesh Chhabra, Prince Kanwaljit Singh, Suvinder Vicky, Akasa Singh. Chamak has cameos from a host of musicians, including Mika Singh, and boasts of 28 songs.

What led you to make ‘Chamak’?
There’s a lot of pain in Punjab’s history. When invaders would attack India centuries ago, they would need to cross Punjab before reaching Delhi. They would loot us while entering and again while returning. All those centuries of pain, Partition and all that happened afterward, and the show of strength needed to counter it, shows up in our music. There is too much passion here that cannot be contained.

This passion leads to music, then money, then crime. A top rapper says he is like a Rolls Royce in rap music, so a rival rapper buys a Rolls Royce and puts up a photo on social media. There is tremendous rivalry between artists and communities. And everyone dreams to hit it big via music. A boy working at a dhaba or a cab driver, everyone will say CD katunga [I will make music] when asked about their dreams.

These stories should be told. Only then will this place make sense. Punjab is not just drugs and terrorism. There is so much music and poetry in Punjab’s air, soil, spirit. I wanted to explore all that in Chamak.

What can you tell us about the characters and the premise?
Chamak is a father-son revenge story. Kaala reaches Punjab from Canada via United States and Mexico. On reaching Punjab, he gets to know that his father is Taara Singh.

Manoj Pahwa, Suvinder Vicky, Rakesh Bedi and Hobby Dhaliwal form a music company that becomes very big. Mukesh Chhabra is a music producer, who is the son of Rakesh Bedi’s character. He wants to bring back his father’s lost glory.

Mohit Malik, playing the son of Manoj Pahwa’s character, is the heir to the company. His is an interesting character. Suvinder Vicky and Akash Singh are a father-daughter pair, who are great Sufi singers. Isha Talwar is an aspiring singer struggling in the industry. Prince Kanwaljit Singh, a terrific actor, plays Jagga, who is a killer.

How long did it take you to make ‘Chamak’?
Chamak has been in the making for five to six years. I, my wife Geetanjali Mehlwal Chauhan, S Fakira and Jatinder Lall wrote the story for around eight months. After that we had a writer’s room where our Mumbai writers Avinash Singh, Vijay Varma and Gaurav Sharma joined us. Scripting took us another year and a half.

The last three years went exclusively into making Chamak. We shot in Mumbai, Delhi, Punjab and Canada.

‘Chamak’ seems to have the biggest soundtrack for an Indian series yet.
There are songs from Gippy Grewal, Mika Singh, the great Sufi singer Kanwar Grewal, Afsana Khan, Asees Kaur, Shaswat Singh, rapper MC Square and Sunidhi Chauhan. Malkit Singh, whom many have heard in India for Tutak Tutak and his work in Bend It Like Beckham, has sung in the series. Master Saleem has sung a thumri.

Manna Singh, a 23-year-old, has composed eight to nine songs. There are songs from Jatinder Shah, who is as big as Pritam in the Punjabi film industry, as well as Pritam da’s producer Sunny MR. Achint, of Scam 1992 fame, and his colleague Parth, and Canadian rapper Fateh Doe are also part of the soundtrack.

You started by assisting Ram Gopal Varma in the early 2000s, directed two Hindi films, and co-wrote one for Abbas-Mustan. Then you became a successful director in Punjab. Now, you have a big series of your own. What has this journey been like?
The journey hasn’t been easy, but it’s been beautiful. It has had its ups and downs. It has made me a better human being, hopefully a better filmmaker.

Ultimately, numbers don’t lie. Numbers matter, which I got with my Punjabi films. In Punjab, the actors, scripts, producers believed me, so the audiences believed in me. Then the Hindi film industry called me back.

While returning from school in the bus in Yamnanagar-Jagadhri in Haryana, I would entertain my friends by telling them stories. My home was the last stop. If the bus got stuck in a jam, I would stretch the story.

I grew up in a place of sugar mills, paper mills, steel factories. Filmmaking was absolutely nobody’s passion there. From there to today, I have only followed my heart.