Amar Singh Chamkila

August 7, 2010

Amar Singh Chamkila

Punjabi Singer ~ Amar Singh Chamkila

Years active July 21, 1960 – March 8, 1988

Amar Chamkila was a high-profile Punjabi singer, songwriter and musician. He was also called Dunni Ram. He was on July 21, 1961 in the village of Dugri near Ludhiana, Punjab, India. He was the youngest child of Kartar Kaur and Hari Singh. He is widely touted as the most influential Punjabi folk singer of all time. This is an incredible feat as Chamkila sang for less than a decade. He is also regarded as one of the greatest Punjabi folk live stage performers. In his heyday, he was known to do three stage performances in a single day. With a natural aptitude for music, he learned to play the harmonium and dholki and won himself the opportunity to play alongside Punjabi folk artists such as K. Deep, Mohammad Saddiq and Surinder Shinda and many more. He was also an accomplished player of the Tumbi instrument.

He was married to Gurmail Kaur. He had two daughters, Amandeep Kaur and Kamaldeep Kaur. Kamal has gone on to follow her father's footsteps by becoming a singer. She has released albums of her own, some of which contain unsung but written lyrics by her father.

Rise to Fame

Amar Chamkila – Chamkila in Punjabi means one that glitters – he partnered up with the female vocalist Surinder Sonia and recorded eight duets. The record was released in 1979 and was produced by Charanjit Ahuja. The cunningly worded lyrics, which he had written himself, became hits across Punjab and paved the way for the unique lyrical mastery his fans would come to expect.

In 1980, Chamkila left Sonia and established a short-lived stage relationship with Miss Usha. He left Miss Usha in the same year in favor of teaming up with a female folk singer named Amarjot. Not much is known about Amarjot Kaur, except for the fact that she was previously married but left the marriage to pursue her dream of singing. Amarjot herself was a renowned singer and sang with Kuldip Manak. She would become Chamkila’s permanent singing partner providing the female vocals for his duets, that is, the majority of the songs that he wrote.

Chamkila, for the most part, wrote his own lyrics, the majority of which were boyish and suggestive, yet fluent, commentaries on extramarital affairs, alcohol and drug use. The couple’s appeal grew not only in the Punjab, but they quickly raced to international stardom among Punjabi uncles abroad. Around this time, Chamkila was considered by some to be more popular than folk legends such as Kuldip Manak, Gurdas Maan and Surinder Shinda.

Chamkila’s song Pehle Lalkare Naal was featured in the soundtrack of the 1987 Punjabi film Patola. He also recorded the song Mera Jee Karda for the Punjabi film Dupatta. Both films fared well at the box office and had a positive impact on Chamkila's popularity. He also reportedly recorded a music video for one of his songs for the state-owned Doordarshan channel, but after his death his video was taken off the air.

Chamkila recorded in excess of ninety songs before he killed in Mehsopur, Punjab in 1988. At the time of his death, he reportedly had 200 songs that had not been sung or recorded.