This is the second time Salman Khan has replaced Arijit Singh’s voice with a Pakistani singer, and that too at a time when India-Pakistan tensions on the border have escalated to an all time high.
If at all Salman Khan wanted to replace Arijit, why he didn’t consider any other Indian singer?
While most Indians have nothing against Rahat Fateh Ali Khan or Atif Aslam, we wonder if this is the right time to invite them to sing in Bollywood.
In Tiger Zinda Hai, Atif Aslam sang Dil Diya Gallan and now there’s Atif Aslam crooning Ishtehaar in Welcome To New York (which was to be sung by Arijit Singh). Salman Khan apparently had got Arijit Singh’s voice replaced with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in Sultan also. Salman Khan insisted on dubbing Arijit’s voice with Rahat’s for the song ‘Jag Ghoomiya’ in Sultan.
The Salman-Arijit feud goes back a long a way to an awards function which Salman had hosted and where Arijit came on stage wearing informal clothes and casual chappals. The two had exchanged barbed sarcasm on stage. This perhaps explains why Arijit was shown the backdoor in favour of Rahat.
But after Rahat replaced Arijit in Welcome To New York, BJP minister singer Baabul Supriyo has voiced his concern.
“If that’s true, I would request the makers of the film to remove Rahat’s voice and get someone else to dub it! I am also not sure why Atif Aslam got to sing ‘Dil Diya Gallan’ when for sure our very own Arijit could have done a much better job. The FM stations played the song galore while news channels announced the name of our soldiers martyred by PAK-sponsored terrorists.
Atif as an artist sounds great in ‘Dil Diya’ and Rahat is a great singer too. But it’s important to clarify that our problem is not with the artists, Atif or Rahat but with their Pakistani nationality. It’s not a political stand but probably the families who have lost their sons, brothers, fathers would feel a lot better should the entire country show solidarity in any manner possible.
Bollywood has a national responsibility. It represents India worldwide; hence banning Pakistani artists in Indian films would have also taken the protest against organised terrorism by the rogue nation, worldwide. And, I very clearly recall that such a promise was made when Ae Dil Hai Mushkil had met with protests due to Fawad Khan. And why is Pakisan’s entertainment industry silent over cross-border terrorism? It’s pertinent to note that one cannot recall a single Pak artist made famous by Bollywood, condemn terror acts by Pakistan. Enough is enough now, ban them for their only crime, that is being a Pakistani. Let we Indians wear our hearts on our sleeves and let our hearts beat in salutation of the sacrifice of our brave hearts,” says Baabul Supriyo.
