Rohit Jugraj's brilliant OTT avatar, one artist who shines in the politics of Punjabi music

Movie Review - Chamak (Web Series)
Artists – Paramveer Cheema, Akasa Singh, Isha Talwar, Mohit Malik, Mukesh Chhabra, Suvinder Pal, Manoj Pahwa and Gippy Grewal etc.
Writers – Rohit Jugraj, S Fakira, Avinash Singh, Vijay Narayan Singh and Gaurav Sharma
Director – Rohit Jugraj
Producer – Geetanjali Mehwal Chauhan, Rohit Jugraj Chauhan and Sumeet Nandlal Dubey
OTT - Sony Liv
Release – 7th December 2023
Rating - 4/5

Rohit took the path of Punjabi cinema and made hit films like 'Jatta James Bond' and 'Sardarji' along with Gippy Grewal and Diljit Dosanjh. His previous attempt in Hindi cinema ‘Arjun Patiala’ again did not take off. Now Rohit is present with his first web series ‘Chamak’. The series tells that there are two types of shine, one which is visible all over the world, i.e. glamour, and the other, which is within the human being, i.e. introspection, enlightenment. The web series 'Chamak' is the story of a man running between these two flashes.

The story of ‘Chamak’ emerged from Chamkila
In a way, the web series 'Chamak' is a wedding procession of stars. But, it is praiseworthy that every actor is a perfect fit in his or her own character. This is happening for the first time in any series that so many singers from any music industry are seen simultaneously giving their respective performances to the audience on screen. And, Rohit Jugraj is praised because he has thrown every trump card of his with great care. The name of the series 'Chamak' also gives a reference to Punjab's famous folk singer Amar Singh Chamkila. Chamkila along with his wife were also shot dead in broad daylight and their killers have not been found till date. In real life, this incident happened in the year 1988. The series begins with one such murder in 1999. Now imagine that if Sameer of the film 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' had been Chamkila's son and he would have been luring Nandini to become the disciple of an accomplished singer, that too because she has to perform on a stage where The clues to the murderers of his parents begin to emerge.

Amazing OTT avatar of Rohit Jugraj
Season one of the series 'Chamak' consisting of six episodes of average 50 minutes has been made with great effort by Rohit Jugraj. The pace of his films in Hindi cinema has been very fast and perhaps one of the reasons for their failure was that Rohit kept failing to bring what was going on in his mind on screen. But, ‘Chamak’ is going to be a good symbol of their inner glow. The series seems slow in the beginning but once the white past of its main character Kaala is revealed, the series picks up pace. This web series is going to take Rohit Jugraj somewhere else, just like Anand Tiwari has created a brand in the web series 'Bandish Bandits'. There are not many stories of music politics in Hindi cinema and OTT space. From cinema to folk music, there are dozens of such stories across the country on which more web series like 'Chamak' should be made.

Rainbow of acting of Paramveer Cheema
After the strong direction of Rohit Jugraj, the web series 'Chamak' gets its real strength from its lead actor Paramveer Cheema. Paramveer got this opportunity during the disaster (Corona period). Otherwise, he had already prepared to wear the black coat after studying law. His character Kala demands a lot of hard work. It is not that Kala is the best hero of the story. He has come to Punjab after coming out of Canadian jail. People call it the reverse donkey case. How a youth coming out of jail turns his shortcomings into his weapon and how he reaches the owner of the biggest company of Punjab Music Industry, Teeja Sur (the first syllable of the name starts with T and the second starts with S, it is important to note that) After everything goes wrong and how a struggling music producer named Dimpy makes him a star, this is the story of Kaala. But this story of Kala that is seen by others is not his real story. He goes on to create another story parallelly, which is the story of finding his own ‘shine’. And, where both the stories meet, the first season of the series ends. Paramveer Cheema is going to become a star with this series, and for this he should be thankful to the casting director of the series Mukesh Chhabra.

Amazing casting and amazing Dimpy
The makers of this series should also be thankful to Mukesh Chhabra. The casting he has done in the series is amazing. This series with about a dozen main characters and the same number of supporting characters is OTT's 'Animal'. Mukesh Chhabra himself is also in the role of Dimpy here. The way Mukesh has lived his character from the first scene to the last scene, only those who have actually seen such music makers can understand its qualities. In the recording scene with Mika, be it sending Kala with blackwater ordered from Mumbai, gifting a car to Kala after his song became a hit and slapping her on loan or the scene in which Kala was gifted a flat, Dimpy Mukesh has really made this character very lively. He is the humor of the crime story of the series and if this character had been kept in the forefront in the trailer or promotion of the series, then the number of viewers could have increased further.

Mohit, Akasa and Isha in limelight
The work of three more actors in the series is amazing. Firstly, Mohit Malik who has done a brilliant job in the role of Guru Deol and has given equal competition to Paramveer Cheema's acting in the role of Kala as Guru. He has a dialogue in which he narrates his real life about LGBTQ characters being forced into most of the stories that come on OTT. At number two is Akasa Singh who is playing the role of Lata Brar in the series. Akasa has shown amazing performance in the music videos of all the songs sung by her, but as an actress, her performance in this series seems to be a reference point in the coming days. How an unknown young man persuades the marginalized daughter of a powerful artist to appreciate her talent, this end of the web series 'Chamak' is quite interesting. And, Isha Talwar at number three. As good as his acting is, his character is not yet established that much in the first season. It is possible that his true form will be revealed in the second season, but after showing him playing the drum in just one scene, the drum comes into his hands once more only at Kala's request!

Saadi series by fellow artists
The abundance of co-actors in the series especially enhances the shine of 'Chamak'. The ground created by Gippy Grewal in the character of Tara Singh from the first episode remains the same till Kaala comes on stage in the sixth episode and steals the show. While Suvindra Pal (Vicky) in the role of Jugal Brar has brightened the last two episodes, Prince Kanwaljeet's performance in the role of Jagga Singh is also worth watching. Now this character is going to be the real juggler of the story and Kala's next dance can also take place on his drum. Apart from these actors, Manoj Pahwa, Navneet Nishan, Hobby Dhaliwal, Saran Kaur, Ankita Goraya, Dhanveer Singh and Mahavir Bhullar have also kept the series strong in their respective corners.

Interesting story of politics of music
And, now the thing that I wrote in the middle, the name of the web series ‘Chamak’ as a reference to OTT’s ‘Animal’. After ‘Bandish Bandits’, this is the second Indian web series in which music plays a central role in the story. And, apart from directing the series, Rohit Jugraj also gets full marks for composing its music. It must not have been easy to bring together music stars like Mika Singh, Bullet Paaji, MC Square, Malkit Singh, Afsana Khan, Kanwar Grewal, Anees Kaur, Shashwat Singh, Harjot Kaur and Devendra Pal in one series. But, in something that is easy, there is no inner 'shine' in it. The series is also technically very strong. Sandeep Yadav's cinematography, Mandar Khanvilkar's editing, Arpana Rana's production designing, Priyanka Mundada's costumes and Kunal Pawar's art direction are all perfect in their place. Enjoy bingewatching the entire web series this weekend. Although the use of abusive language in the series forces one to wear Bluetooth earphones before watching it on the big TV in the house, but if you listen to its songs from the last episode on the home theater speakers, then the 'glow' within you is 100% sure to increase.