Amy Virk: I would like to work with Deepika and Katrina Bhabhi, I never begged for work

Singer-actor Amy Virk has been in the Punjabi industry for almost 20 years, but he/she left his/her mark in Bollywood when he/she worked in films like ‘Bhuj: The Pride of India’ and ’83’. Now he/she will be seen as a hero in the upcoming film ‘Bad News’. Amy, who is adorned with co-actors like Vicky Kaushal and Tripti Dimri, is colored with comedy in this film. A special conversation with him/her.

Today Punjabi music has spread from regional level to Bollywood and all over the world. Who would you give the credit for this?
Yes, this is true and it started with singers like Sidhu Moosewala, Diljit Paji (Diljit Dosanjh), AP Dhillon, Karan Aujla. I must have 5-7 more younger brothers in the field of music, who have done good work for music and all these people have taken music to the international level. Be it white or black, all foreigners have heard our songs and made raps on them. There have also been big collaborations internationally, like recently a song by Diljit Paji and Sia (international singer) was released. King and Nick Jonas’ song also became very popular. AP Dhillon and Karan Aujla’s songs are being liked all over the world. Like right now Karan Aujla’s song ‘Tauba Tauba’ from our own film Bad News is very popular. I think Punjabi music is evergreen.

Talking about your career, I have heard that you had to struggle a lot? Did you have to face rejections?
To be honest, I object to the word struggle. I find it to be a useless word. I have been blessed by God that I have not had to struggle since my first song. I have had to work very hard, but I have never had to beg for work. Be it Punjab or Bollywood, all my elder and younger brothers have given me work with love. As far as rejection is concerned, 5-6 years ago, some music directors from Mumbai asked me to send songs, I did, but later I saw that those songs were not given a place. I also gave auditions for some roles, but I was not selected. Many times the audience also rejects you. But I believe that rejection makes an artist better.

There was a time when Sardars were used as stereotypes or in comedy in films, jokes were made on them, but do you believe that the situation is changing now?
We have many actors like Diljit Paji, Satinder Sartaj, Ranjit Bawa and me who represent themselves by wearing turbans. People say that you have taken the turban internationally, then I say the opposite that it is because of the turban that we have reached here. The turban has brought us here. Now if I did not have a turban, I would not have been a part of this film. Like there was a whole team of 83, in which I was the only Sardar. I played the role of Balwinder Singh Sandhu in the film. Earlier we were made fun of, but my brothers broke that stereotype. The way Sardars were shown in films, we used to look for such Sardars in Punjab, because in reality Sardars are not like this. They did not even know how to tie a turban. Now in films, the person who ties the turban is called from Punjab, so this is also a big change.

Recently, in the movie Chamkila, there was a story of Amar Singh Chamkila being shot in public, Sidhu Moosewala was also murdered in public. How do you view these incidents?
Look, these incidents are condemnable. They should not happen, but you will find such things in every area. By the way, I think that there should be no fighting and violence anywhere. I think that there should be no war either. Now, for example, our Babaji in Punjab was saying that we had to tell the people outside what is the goodness of our community? But all our time was spent in explaining to our own people. As far as Sidhu and Chamkila are concerned, there were many elements in between. I believe that no matter how much difference there is between the two parties, violence cannot be its solution. If God has created someone, then no one has the right to take his/her life.

You started your career in the Punjabi industry with intense and negative roles, how challenging was it for you to do comedy in Bad News?
Every actor wants to do comedy. Generally comedy films are made in Punjabi industry. The audience there likes to watch rom-coms as family films, so Punjabi actors are good at comedy. In today’s stressful life, whether it is life or films, comedy becomes necessary, so I enjoyed comedy a lot.

Which actresses in Bollywood would you like to work with?
Right now, we have all the Bhabhis. All the heroes are my friends. There is Deepika Bhabhi (Deepika Padukone) and there is Katrina Bhabhi (Katrina Kaif). Apart from these, I want to work with all the heroines. All are good. Apart from heroines, I would like to work on good scripts. I want to do good roles in Bollywood.