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Sarke Chunar Row: The Hindi song, Sarke Chunar Teri Sarke, from the upcoming Kannada film KD: The Devil, courted a controversy owing to risqué lyrics and choreography. It even led to a fatwa against actor Nora Fatehi. Following the uproar, clarifications came from everyone involved - right from Nora Fatehi herself to lyricist Raqueeb Alam, singer Mangli, and the director’s wife. Now, the director Prem broke his silence, issuing an apology while admitting he isn’t fluent in the language and blaming Alam for the lyrics that led to the bashing left, right and centre. 

Director Apologises; Shifts Blame On Lyricist

In a conversation with Hindustan Times, the director said that phrases like ‘neeche mat gira, uthao’ are part of everyday speech, and since he is not fluent in Hindi, he wasn’t aware of the specific wording. 

“Everything went smoothly with the Kannada original. I didn’t understand the Hindi words used in translation, as I am not fluent in the language. I come from a village where phrases like ‘neeche mat gira, uthao’ are part of everyday speech, it’s Janapada,” the outlet quoted him as saying. 

He clarified that while he had written the original Kannada lyrics, the Hindi version was translated by lyricist Raqueeb Alam.

“I don’t want any controversy. Mine is an emotional film, and the song is meant to be something people dance to at parties. It’s been well received in Karnataka and Kerala,” he further expressed, stressing that courting a controversy was never his intention. 

After the backlash, the video was made private, and Alam confirmed he had written fresh, clean lyrics, with a revised version of the song set to be released soon. The director echoed this, stating that the updated lines would be submitted to the Censor Board.

He even apologised for hurting the sentiments of the people. “If anyone is hurt, I am very sorry. Our big film faced a small lyrics issue, but it has been blown out of proportion. There are so many larger problems in the world, war hai, LPG gas ki problem hai toh kyun ek gaane pe itni badi controversy kar di?”

‘Not My Creation’: Raqueeb Alam

After the controversy on the song, picturised on Nora Fatehi and Sanjay Dutt, lyricist Alam said that the song is a translation from Kannada and not his creation. 

“The song has been written in Kannada by the director, who told me to do a translation. It is not my creation,” he was quoted by Variety as saying. 

He continued, “I have written five more songs for the movie. I refused to write this one, but he told me to just fit in Hindi words, which he would put in the meter of the song. Now, I have found out that I have been credited as the lyricist for the Hindi version. I am planning to reach out to them. I know it is a bit excessive.”

It is worth noting that the Hindi version of the song, sung by Mangli, written by Raqueeb Alam, and composed by Karan Janya, has been taken down. However, versions in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam remain available online. KVN Productions released the song’s promo on Friday, March 13, followed by the full song on Saturday, March 14.