Amar Singh Chamkilaਅਮਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਚਮਕੀਲਾ

Early life

Amar Singh Chamkila was born Dhani Ram on 21 July 1960 in Dugri, a village in Ludhiana district of Malwa Punjab, into a Dalit Sikh family. His father Hari Singh Sandila and mother Kartar Kaur raised the family on modest means; Dhani Ram was the youngest of their children. He studied at Gujar Khan Primary School in Dugri and dreamed of becoming an electrician, but after Class 8 he had to work in a Ludhiana hosiery mill to support the family. In the mill's noise he found his other vocation: he taught himself to play the harmonium and the dholki, and began writing verses about the village life around him.

From mill worker to Surinder Shinda’s protégé

In 1979, when he was 18, Chamkila cycled with his friend Kuldeep Paras to meet Surinder Shinda, already a star of Punjabi folk. Shinda heard the young singer and took him on as a protégé. Chamkila travelled with Shinda's entourage, playing alongside folk stalwarts such as K. Deep and Mohammad Sadiq, and wrote several songs for Shinda. It was the apprenticeship that taught him the stage craft — and the audience's appetite — of Punjabi akhada music. But he had his own songs to sing.

“Takue Te Takua” and the birth of Chamkila

Taking the stage name Amar Singh Chamkila — chamkila in Punjabi means “one that glitters” — he partnered with the female vocalist Surinder Sonia and recorded eight duets for the 1980 album Takue Te Takua, with music produced by Charanjit Ahuja. The lyrics, written by Chamkila himself, were cunningly worded and became hits across Punjab. After a split over pay in 1980 he formed his own troupe, with short-lived stage partnerships including Usha Kiran and Amar Noorie, before he found his lasting partner — first on stage, then in life — in Amarjot Kaur. Chamkila had married Gurmail Kaur before fame; they had two daughters, Amandeep and Kamaldeep. His son Jaiman was born to Amarjot.

The highest-selling voice of the 1980s

Chamkila's sound was unmistakable: a high-pitched, urgent vocal riding on his novel compositions and the twang of the tumbi, backed by harmonium and dholak. His lyrics were vivid, boyish, and suggestive — blunt commentaries on extramarital affairs, alcohol, and drug use — yet they drew their images entirely from Punjabi village life, which is why they landed. Hits such as “Pehle Lalkare Naal” made him the era's biggest draw; the biography Awaz Mardi Nahin records that at his peak he performed 366 shows in 365 days. Alongside the risqué numbers he wrote and sang devotional songs — “Baba Tera Nankana”, “Tar Gayi Ravidas Di Pathri”, “Talwar Main Kalgidhar Di” — and though he never recorded it himself, he wrote “Jatt Di Dushmani”, later performed by many artists. Indian composer Amit Trivedi would call him “a legend, the Elvis of Punjab.”

The assassination

On 8 March 1988, at around 2 in the afternoon, Chamkila arrived to perform at Mehsampur in Punjab, at the height of his popularity and amid the Punjab insurgency. As he and Amarjot stepped out of their vehicle, a gang of motorcycle-borne assailants opened fire. Chamkila, Amarjot, and two members of their band were killed. No arrests were ever made, and the case was never solved. He was 27.

Legacy

Chamkila's death fixed him in Punjabi music history as both legend and mystery. British Indian musician Panjabi MC cites him among his key influences, and his studio recordings — released in his lifetime by His Master's Voice — have been compiled and reissued for decades. On screen, Kabir Singh Chowdhry's 2018 mockumentary Mehsampur and the 2023 Punjabi film Jodi drew on his life; then in April 2024, Imtiaz Ali's Netflix biographical drama Amar Singh Chamkila, with Diljit Dosanjh as Chamkila and Parineeti Chopra as Amarjot, carried his story to a new generation across the world.

Why is Amar Singh Chamkila called the “Elvis of Punjab”?

The nickname reflects his electric stage presence, his record-breaking popularity in the 1980s, and his untimely death at 27. Composer Amit Trivedi famously called him “a legend, the Elvis of Punjab.”

How did Amar Singh Chamkila die?

He was shot dead on 8 March 1988 in Mehsampur, Punjab, along with his wife and singing partner Amarjot Kaur and two band members. No arrests were ever made, and the killing remains unsolved.