Nora Fatehi has finally reacted to the controversy around the song “Sarke Chunar Teri Sarke” featuring her and Sanjay Dutt from the Kannada film KD – The Devil. The song has faced massive backlash from the audience due to its lewd lyrics and suggestive choreography, following which complaints were made, resulting in the government taking down the video of the song. The issue was also raised in the Lok Sabha with the Information and Broadcasting minister Ashwani Vaishnav revealing action has been taken and the freedom of expression is not absolute. Earlier an NHRC notice was also issued against the song makers.
‘I shot the song in Kannada, had no idea about lyrics’
Nora has now shared a video message on the same in which she claimed that she did the song because she wanted to work with Sanjay Dutt. She also said that since she doesn’t know Kannada, she relied on the filmmaker to translate the song, and what was translated to her didn’t seem objectionable. Only at the song’s launch event, when she heard the song’s Hindi lyrics, did she understand how vulgar its lyrics sounded. She also claimed that she warned the filmmaker about the song and how it could land them in trouble.
‘Who would say no to working with Sanjay Dutt?’
She said in the clip, “I shot this song three years ago in a language called Kannada, okay? Which is a part of a different industry called Sandalwood, okay? When I shot this song three years ago, I said yes to it because it was a part of a big film. It was with a big icon, Sanjay Dutt, who would say no to work with him? He’s such an icon. And it was a remake, at least that’s what I thought, of like, “Nayak Nahi,” which is also a very iconic song.”
She went on to say that she had no idea how inappropriate the lyrics of the Hindi version would sound. She said, “When I’m on set shooting for this song, I’m relying on the filmmakers to translate the song and that is what I go by, okay? When they’re translating the song, nothing seemed inappropriate or vulgar when they were translating the song to me. But then again, I don’t understand Kannada, so I’m just relying on whatever they’re telling me. Whatever they’ve done right now, which is creating a Hindi version and dubbing the voice in Hindi and having those lyrics, which are very inappropriate, I had no idea about that. They didn’t take any approvals. They didn’t take any permission from me.”
Nora also alleged that the makers used unflattering AI images of her and Sanjay Dutt. She said, “When I was invited for the launch at the event, I sat there and I saw the Kannada version, which first of all, I had a major issue with because they didn’t take any approvals from me when they created that lyrical version. They used very unflattering photos, and if anyone knows me, they know that I have to approve all my photos. They put this lyrical version without my approval, and they put it out there. Then they created an image of me and Sanjay Dutt, which was AI-generated, which I’m already against AI. So I was already feeling really irritated at the event when I saw what I saw.”
Explaining why she didn’t raise the issue then, she said, “I have to be respectful regardless. I’m in the presence of media. I’m in the presence of filmmakers, people who give me opportunities, so I have to carry myself in a certain way. However, internally, I was really conflicted with what I was seeing.”
‘I told director that this is not okay’
Nora shared that she immediately disassociated herself from the project and didn’t promote it on social media. She said,, “Then they played the Hindi version. Now, when they played the Hindi version, I knew it was a wrap. I knew we were going to have issues because at least I understand Hindi. I told the director, “This is not going to be okay. This is going to get a lot of backlash.” I disassociated myself with the project. As you can see, I didn’t promote it at all. I again flagged it to the director and I said, My image and reputation is on the line.’”
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Nora shared that since she is not a ‘nepo kid’ and doesn’t have backing or power behind her, she can’t do much in this scenario. “We have little power. We have little control.” She added, “However, there are certain places, you know, certain industries, they don’t listen. They don’t care about my opinion. That’s a conversation I think we can have on another day.”
Nora thanks audience for backlash against KD The Devil song
Nora thanked the audience for the backlash because of which the song was removed. However, she insisted that it is the filmmakers and producers of the film who should be shamed and not her and Sanjay Dutt. “Because of this backlash, it pushed them to remove these, this, these songs, and I’m grateful for that. Also, just a side note to the media and to the pages that are consistently talking about this situation. If it bothers you guys so much, then you need to hold the filmmakers and the people who create such content accountable. You start using their name and images when such controversies arise. You start bombarding their name and images to the audience, because then only will they have some sort of fear, and they will feel some sort of accountability and some sort of responsibility when they create content. If you’re only going to bombard the audience with just the artist’s name and image, it’s counterproductive because we don’t have control of such scenarios. If you guys really, really, really want to find a solution, then you need to start holding the filmmakers and the people behind the content accountable,” she said.
She ended the video saying, “On that note, I will be more careful, and I will be more strict moving forward. I just want to say thank you for the backlash. Because of that they’ve been able to take it down, so thank you.”
Cine body All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA) also demanded an official ban on it on Tuesday. PTI reported that the government is planning to send a notice to YouTube since the film has not been released and this doesn’t come under CBFC purview.
