New Delhi, March 17 Songwriter Raqueeb Alam on Tuesday distanced himself from the controversy over the sexually explicit lyrics of "Sarke Chunar" from Sanjay Dutt's "KD The Devil", saying the track was a translation from the original Kannada and he had initially refused to do it.
The song, which has been the subject of outrage on social media and elsewhere, has now disappeared from the official YouTube page, though it was played endlessly and shared on social media. The Kannada film, which will be dubbed in four languages, will be released on April 30.
“I have not written these lyrics. They were written by the film’s director Prem in Kannada. When I was asked to write all this, I refused, saying such songs won’t work, and will be censored too. They told me to only literally translate the Kannada version and give it to them... they will set it to the song’s meter," Alam told HT City.
“In the end, they say the entire song is about an alcohol bottle. But before that, everything is so inappropriate. I had refused. Why would I need to write such songs?" he added.
Following the backlash, Alam said he was told by the film's team to write a "fresh version with clean lyrics". They are planning to release the song along with an apology note, he added while acknowledging that the lyrics contain double meaning.
A video of the Hindi song, featuring Dutt and Nora Fatehi, was released on YouTube two days ago and quickly went viral for its shock value and lyrics that almost describe a sexual act.
The song has come to the notice of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, and there are plans to send a notice to YouTube since the film itself has not been released, a government source said.
Following the furore, the Hindi version can no longer be seen on YouTube. However, the Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil versions are still available on the video sharing platform. Anand Audio has the music rights to the movie, which is backed by KVN Productions.
The Hindi song is by Mangli and the lyrics are originally by Prem, the director of the movie. Alam is credited for the Hindi version. The music is by Arjun Janya.
Musician Armaan Malik and filmmaker Onir were amongst the many expressing their distress.
"I wish I could unhear it," said Malik, known for hits such as "Bol Do Na Zara", "Wajah Tum Ho" and "Sab Tera".
"This showed up on my timeline and I had to replay it just to make sure I heard it right. It's sad to see commercial songwriting reach a new low. I am genuinely at a loss for words," he wrote on X.
Filmmaker Onir questioned why the song was not banned.
"And the Censor board is busy with The naming of a film #GhooskhorPandat . Strange country we are becoming... opposing Valentines day celebration, interfaith marriage/ celebration while ok with this rubbish," he wrote on X.
Many others on social media also called out the makers for lowering the standard of music.
"It's sad to see how normalised cheap and vulgar lyrics have become in mainstream songs. Shock value isn’t creativity. Bollywood music once had poetry, emotion and depth - we deserve that standard again," one user wrote on X.
"The level of music today is so cheap and disgusting," wrote another.
One user on X said the song should be "banned with immediate effect".
"This is so shameful, just for some money people write such songs, compose music for this nonsense and singers perform them. Even actors dance and perform on such disgusting content," wrote a social media user.
Alam said he felt humiliated by the controversy.
"When I write good songs, people don’t notice. I have written 'Chikri Chikri' in Hindi for Ram Charan’s upcoming film 'Peddi'. All the songs of 'Pushpa' in Hindi were written by me,” he told HT City.