Sonu Nigam's song removed from Kannada film despite his apology: ‘We are very upset, cannot tolerate insult’

Singer Sonu Nigam performed in Bengaluru, Karnataka, on April 25 and a video from the evening went viral on social media for all the wrong reasons. A clip saw the singer supposedly refusing to sing in Kannada and bringing up the Pahalgam attack. A News18 report states that the fallout from that included Sonu facing the Kannada film industry’s wrath and his song from the film Kuladalli Keelyavudo being removed. (Also Read: Sonu Nigam Karnataka concert row explained: From taking ‘offence’, having FIRs filed against him to finally apologising)

Sonu Nigam’s song removed from Kannada film

The makers of Kuladalli Keelyavudo released a press note confirming that Sonu’s song from the film will be removed. The publication published their statement: “There is no doubt that Sonu Nigam is a good singer. But, we are very upset by how he spoke about Kannada recently at a concert. We cannot tolerate the insult Sonu Nigam has done to Kannada, so we have removed the song.”

Sonu had sung Manasu Haadtade for the film directed by K Ramnarayan. The song was composed by Manomurthy and written by Yogaraj Bhat. It received good buzz when it was released a month ago and is still up on Sonu’s YouTube channel. The film’s team has now roped in singer Chethan to re-record the song. Producer Santosh Kumar also announced his decision not to collaborate with Sonu for future projects.

What happened

At the Bengaluru concert, Sonu shut down a student’s repeated requests to sing a Kannada song and said, “He was so rudely threatening me, Kannada, Kannada. This is the reason for what happened in Pahalgam.” After backlash from the video from Kannadigas, the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) instructed everyone to halt working with Sonu.

After explaining his side of the story on Instagram, Sonu apologised, writing, “Sorry Karnataka. My love for you, is bigger than my ego. Love you always.” An FIR was lodged against the singer at Avalahalli Police Station in Bengaluru for linking the request to Pahalgam attack.