Parineeti Chopra knows what it's like to sing in front of AR Rahman, even amidst Mumbai's traffic jam over a Zoom call. Despite being cast in Imtiaz Ali's "Amar Singh Chamkila," the actor had to give a "musical audition" to the Academy Award-winning composer.
She said, “Two years ago, I was on my way to Karan Johar’s birthday party when I got a call from Imtiaz Ali sir, asking if I was free. I thought it would be a quick chat, but he said Diljit, Rahman sir, and him are on a zoom call and he wanted me to join as well. I was in a traffic jam and I asked my driver to quickly park the car and asked everyone to be quiet, koi saans bhi na lega that quiet.
“The four of us were on zoom call and I thought it would be an introductory hello-hi zoom call. Rahman sir asked me if I know how to sing and I told him I like singing. I thought it was a safe answer and then he told me, ‘Achcha sing and show me.’ I thought gayi picture ab haath se!”
Parineeti Chopra said AR Rahman works with the “most genius artistes” in the world and thought her singing in front of him would look like an earnest plea to “cast” her in Amar Singh Chamkila. Parineeti, however, regained her calm and sang the only Punjabi song she could think in that moment: “Duma Dum Mast Kalandar”.
“It was like a musical (audition), even though by then it was confirmed that I was doing the film. I had told sir that I will sing all the songs in the film so, of course, in the movie we have sung Amarjot Kaur and Chamkila’s original songs as well as that of Rahman’s. That’s why he auditioned me.”
