BENGALURU: A day after the Hindi song ‘Sarke Chunariya’, featuring Nora Fatehi and Sanjay Dutt, was removed from streaming apps amidst mounting controversy over its lyrics, all versions of the song including the original in Kannada, ‘Sarse Ninna Seraga’ from KD-The Devi’, were pulled down on Wednesday.
Breaking his silence, film director and lyricist of the Kannada song Prem apologised, maintaining he did not intend to offend anyone. “No one deliberately makes mistakes. I have written songs about mother, God, love, relationships, and folk subjects.
Audiences come to my films expecting good music, and I remain grateful for that,” he said a video statement. The lyrics snowballed into a major debate, particulary the Hindi version, with the issue even being raised in Parliament. Explaining the idea behind the song, the director said, “When I wrote ‘Sarse Ninna…’, it came from a different perspective.
The imagery was based on alcohol bottle and pickle. I structured the lines to create curiosity. There was nothing vulgar in my mind. It has been understood differently... If people have felt hurt, I apologise. I have never written anything with an obscene meaning... I will rewrite the song and upload a new Hindi version.”
On the Hindi version, Prem pointed to a disconnect, stating that some words, written by Raqueeb Alam, did not sit right with him and he could not fully engage due to language limitations.
Responding sharply to Nora Fatehi’s remarks, Prem said, “An actor commits to a project only if they feel it is right and performs after understanding the lyrics. Without that, expression is not possible. She had spoken positively at the song launch event.” The song was released in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi, and all versions have been removed.