Was Pariniti Chopra under political pressure to act in Chamkila???

AMITABH SRIVASTAVA, Sr journalist

Much as the audiences were waiting to welcome one of the most versatile and highly educated actors of this generation Pariniti Chopra they feel cheated after seeing her in the film Amar Singh Chamkila.
The film based on the life of one of the most popular singers of Punjab who was killed at the age of 27 has been produced by Imtiaz Ali and released on Netflix this week.
The story of this singer from Punjab is as gripping as can be but it’s hardly ‘bold’ per se.
Those of us who have been writing on theatre and cinema are well aware of the double entendre words which are a trade mark of Punjabi literature.
Even when there was censorship during the emergency Punjabi plays with double meaning dialogues were entertaining audiences in theatres.
But the story of Chamkila rising from the slums if you can say tells us why catering to these basic instincts of the audiences was a compulsion, a matter of survival for artists who had no other source of income.
That the same singers were equally adept in comprising religious songs under compulsion comes as no surprise as Chamkila shows when the Granthis summon him and tell him to stop singing ‘vulgar’ songs about devar bhabhi or the Jethji about which folk songs exist in almost all Indian languages.
A man of letters knows how to wield a pen whatever he or she is asked to write.
But the tragedy of Chamkila is that he is not allowed to make a choice and starts singing both kind of lyrics on demand.
And while going to perform one of the concerts both he and his second wife are killed by assassins.
His real story and pull actually starts unfolding in a flash back even as his dead body is awaiting it’s last rites.
Now we hear that one of his killers has been identified and a new film is to all set to be made on him.
I am not interested in that…
I am more curious to know if Parniti Chopra, recently married to Raghav Chadha a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab was under any kind of political pressure to perform in this film.
All the limelight is hogged by Dilijit Dosanjh while Parniti looks so awkward and out of her element as his second wife who comes quite late in the story and looks clumsy throughout.
We have seen her in.much better roles as a bubbly, delightful and intelligent actor.
Why this?

( Views are writer’s personal)