'Chamak' web series review: Suvinder Vicky and Paramvir Singh Cheema's show is eccentric and mostly entertaining

Cast: Paramvir Cheema, Gippy Grewal, Isha Talwar, Survinder Vicky, Manoj Pahwa

Director: Rohit Jugraj

Language: Hindi

Chamak means shiny, and all that glitters is not gold. That could clearly be the driving force of Rohit Jugraj’s show that’s titled, yes, Chamak. It’s the story of a Punjabi singer in Canada who returns to his hometown after a traumatic and fateful incident that shakes his world. Before Rajkumar Hirani could do with Shah Rukh Khan’s Dunki, this show uses the word Dunki and does a fine job of explaining what it means.

A friend of Kaala, the name of our hero, says yours is the case of reverse Dunki. This is because it’s all about migrating (illegally) from Punjab to Canada and not the other way round. Here, in the heartland, where both fragrance and fright reside, he gets a chilling welcome. The one thing that hooks you instantly about the show is the solid cast. Suvinder Vicky returns after stealing the show in Netflix’s Kohrra, and Manoj Pahwa and Navneet Nishan are always delightful to watch.

In between, we get lame jokes like ‘I’m Kaala, I’m Gori’ and many more, but the momentum of the show never loses its beat. Jugraj also infuses the madness of music into the narrative since the show’s protagonist is a singer and performer. He even says that no artist should die on the stage. Rohit Jugraj made James in 2005 for Ram Gopal Varma’s production house. That film walked the tightrope of being erratic and eccentric, and Chamak is mostly the same, in more good ways than bad.

The theme is dark but the frames are all lit up. The conflict is morose but the characters don’t forget to have fun. It seems the makers wanted to keep the essence of the show as close to the title as possible. And at its heart are the performances. Paramvir Singh Cheema is wild and unpredictable as Kaala, and embodies the spirit of a performer to the best of his abilities. Manoj Pahwa, as said, is a hoot as always. And Suvinder Vicky continues to show how he’s one of the best finds of 2023.

The show hasn’t been promoted or spoken about much but let’s see if it picks up in the coming days and justifies what it’s called.