Pierced ears after ‘Chamak’ shoot, it’s a gift from character Kaala: Paramvir Singh Cheema (IANS Interview)

Mumbai, Dec 1 (IANS) Actor Paramvir Singh Cheema, who will be soon seen as the lead of the upcoming streaming show ‘Chamak’, has shared that he pierced his ears because of his character of Kaala in the show, who is a born musician.

‘Chamak’ is a musical thriller featuring 14 artistes and 28 songs, and sees Kaala steers his way through the underbelly of the Punjab music industry – through politics, business feuds and family history.

The show follows the story of Kaala as he pulls off a ‘reverse Dunki’ to reach India and trace the murderers of his musician father, Taara Singh, who was shot dead in the midst of a packed performance.

Ahead of the release of his show, Paramvir spoke with IANS about his roots, his process during the shoot, the experience of staying with the character and his favourite Punjani music artistes of all times.

Talking about his roots and the experience of shooting in Punjab, Paramvir told IANS: “I come from a farming background in Punjab, my father is a farmer. When we were shooting in Punjab everybody was very supportive there. I took 6 months to let my hair grow and refuse many projects that came to me during those six months. But, I decided to focus on one project.”

When asked if shooting in Punjab unlocked any core memory for him, pat came the reply – the food!

The actor said, “Punjabi food is the only thing that I miss in Mumbai. Ghar ki roti, saag, makke di roti, ragi, makkhan, daal mein ghee dal ke khana, these are the things I absolutely love and I had a blast gorging on these in Punjab during the shoot.”

He also spoke about his process and he became a changed man once he stepped out of his vanity van after the preparations.

“Before I used to enter the vanity, we all would laugh and talk a lot but once I entered the vanity van, and my process started with my makeup and the costume team, everybody on the set would decide that they won’t disturb me and let me marinate in the character,” the actor told IANS.

He said that once the shooting wrapped up and he returned to his original mindspace. “I became very under-confident because this character came with a lot of entourage and vanity, madness and a whole different energy. I started liking Kaala and not Paramveer for two months.”

“During the shoot, my director had asked me to pierce my ears but I wasn’t comfortable doing it. So, I used the clip-ons. But, feeling the void after the shoot wrapped up, I decided to go for ear-piercing to let some part of Kaala live in me. I consider this as a gift from Kaala to me.”

Talking about his favourite Punjabi artistes, he said, “My favourite Punjabi artistes of all time are Gurdas Maan, Soni Pabla, and Babbu Maan, I always listen to them whenever I get time. During the making of ‘Chamak’ when I used to perform the character of Kaala, I listened to Arif Lohar’s ‘Jugni’ song a lot. Everyone would tell me that I used to get completely changed as a person and get in the aura of Kaala while listening to that song, so I made it a part of my playlist.”

‘Chamak’ streams on Sony LIV from December 7.

–IANS

aa/dan