Indian music label, T-Series removed the song of Atif Aslam from the movie ‘Marjaavan,’ from its YouTube channel. The music label removed the song following the backlash and Twitter trend: #TakeDownAtifAslamSong.
Atif Aslam had sung the song, Kinna Sona for the movie, Marjaavan, featuring Siddharth Malhotra and Tara Sutaria in lead roles in 2019. The music had put up the version of the Pakistani singer on its YouTube channel. The video song triggered a backlash on social media. The disgruntled Indian social media users slammed the music label for promoting the work of Pakistani artists.
T-Series faces backlash after uploading Atif Aslam’s song on YouTube, apologises and promises not to promote Pakistanis in futurehttps://t.co/1W9aWdWtCU
— OpIndia.com (@OpIndia_com) June 25, 2020
Even Maharashtra Navnirman Sena commented on the controversy. The MNS Cinema Wing president Ameya Khopkar also issued a warning to T-Series. He tweeted, “WARNING TO T-SERIES. Takedown Pakistani singer Atif-Aslam song from your T-Series youtube channel immediately else we will take major action against T-Series.”
Apology for promoting Atif Aslam
According to the Indian publication Indian Express, T-Series later apologized.
The statement read, “It has been brought to our notice that the said song has been sung by Atif Aslam and this song was put up on the YouTube channel of T-Series by one of our employees from the promotion team. He was unaware of his action and erred while putting up the song.”
The statement further added, “We condemn our mistake and apologize for the same. We assure you that henceforth we will neither release, nor promote the song on any platform of T-Series. Meanwhile, we are removing the said song from our YouTube channel.”
“We also assure you that henceforth we will not be releasing or promoting work by any Pakistani artists,” the letter from the record label concluded.
Indian filmmaker appreciates Atif Aslam
Earlier, Indian filmmaker appreciated Atif Aslam for his fine singing skills amid the ban on Pakistani artists.
Indian filmmaker Sudhir Mishra believes Pakistani singer Atif Aslam is among the finest singers in the Indo-Pak entertainment industry. Atif Aslam has recently sung the song ‘Sehmi hai Dhadkan’ in Sudhir Mishra’s ‘Das Dev’.
Sudhir Mishra has immensely praised Atif Aslam’s voice. In his recent statement, he justified his selection of Atif Aslam for his upcoming movie. “Like all great singers, Atif can bring out the emotional depth of a song, but is never sentimental.”
He continued, “The words are articulated so brilliantly but there is a touch of mystery. It can mean different things to the listener at different times,” Mishra said in a statement.
Vipin Patwa has composed and Sagar has written the song. Atif Aslam, in his statement, termed the composition of the song beautiful.
Does anyone do "petty" as (depressingly) well as South Asia??
"We also assure you that henceforth we will not be releasing or promoting work by any Pakistani artists.”https://t.co/q5SyTbkr4C
— Secunder Kermani (@SecKermani) June 25, 2020
“It is an interesting composition because of the lyrics and the way it was supposed to be sung, especially the change of the music from the beginning to the end, is very amusing.” “It is beautifully composed and I thoroughly enjoyed working for this song, I hope everyone loves it too”, he added further.
Calls to ban Pakistani artists
The director’s comment came amidst Babul Supriyo’s strong call to ban Pakistani artistes working in Bollywood. Many entertainers in the Hindi Film Industry have supported his call including Kajol, Ajay Devgan, Anupam Kher, Paresh Rawal.
Filmmakers, however, have either shunned the call or have opted to refrain from commenting on the situation.
Read more: Indian Minister demands ban on Atif and Rahat for being Pakistani
Atif, Aslam, in particular, has been actively working in the Hindi film industry for more than a decade now. He made his first presence in the Hindi Playback industry in ‘Kalyug’. Since then, he has worked with famous directors like Karan Johar, Abbas-Mustan, Madhur Bhandarkar, Mahesh Bhatt, and others in the Hindi film industry.
#TSeries clarified #KinnaSona was uploaded "by mistake" and issued an apology addressed to MNS chief Raj Thackerayhttps://t.co/iRb1q7mhxO
— Firstpost (@firstpost) June 25, 2020
Atif Aslam, with his soulful voice, has sung for several renowned Bollywood actors including Salman Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Saif Ali Khan.
Atif Aslam refuses to promote Indian song in protest
Hence, to protest the ban and the disrespect of Pakistani artists Atif Aslam decided not to promote his song in one of the Indian movies. Atif Aslam despite repeated requests from the makers of ‘Das Dev’ has refused to promote his latest Bollywood song ‘Sehmi hai Dhadkan’ in the movie following the ban imposed by the Indian Film Industry on Pakistani artistes working in India.
The reluctance of Atif Aslam to promote the movie upset the producer. They say Atif despite assurance did not take part in the promotional activity.
Read more: Atif Aslam refuses to promote Bollywood song after ban on Pakistani artists
“Atif said he will do it, but it hasn’t been done. I’m not sure why he isn’t taking part in the activity, but, as a producer, I see that work promised hasn’t been executed,” Kumar said in a statement. Earlier this month, Babul Supriyo made a strong call to ban Pakistani artists working in the Indian film industry.
He bashed Indian filmmakers for hiring services of Pakistani singers including Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Atif Aslam. He objected to the inclusion of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s voice in ‘Welcome To New York’. In his demand, he further pressed filmmakers to utilize the local talent instead of hiring the services of artists from Pakistani origin.