NEW DELHI: Songwriter Raqueeb Alam on Tuesday distanced himself from the controversy surrounding 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 that he had initially refused to work on it.
The song, which sparked outrage on social media, has now been removed from the official YouTube page, though it had circulated widely online. The Kannada film, to be dubbed in four languages, is scheduled for release on 30 April.
“I have not written these lyrics. They were written by the film’s director Prem in Kannada. When I was asked to write them, I refused, saying such songs would not work and would be censored. They then asked me only to literally translate the Kannada version and give it to them. They would set it to the song’s metre,” Alam told HT City.
“At the end they say the entire song is about an alcohol bottle, but before that everything is so dirty. I had refused. Why would I need to write such songs?” he added.
Following the backlash, Alam said the film team instructed him to write a “fresh version with clean lyrics”, which is planned for release along with an apology note. He acknowledged that the original lyrics contained double meanings.
A video of the Hindi song, featuring Dutt and Nora Fatehi, was released on YouTube two days ago and quickly went viral due to its suggestive lyrics. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has reportedly taken note, with plans to issue a notice to YouTube, as the film has not yet been released. While the Hindi version has been removed, the Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil versions remain online.
The film’s music rights are held by Anand Audio, and the movie is backed by KVN Productions. The Hindi version features vocals by Mangli, with music composed by Arjun Janya.
Several celebrities expressed their dismay on social media. Singer Armaan Malik wrote on X, “Wish I could unhear it… Sad to see commercial songwriting hit a new low. I am genuinely at a loss for words.” Filmmaker Onir questioned why the song was not banned, adding, “Strange country we are becoming… opposing Valentine’s Day celebrations or interfaith marriages, while okay with this rubbish.”
Many users criticised the song for lowering the standard of music. One wrote, “Shock value isn’t creativity. Bollywood music once had poetry, emotion and depth – we deserve that standard again.” Another commented, “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.”
Alam admitted feeling 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.
