Indian Idol controversy has been blown out of proportion: Abhijeet Bhattacharya says he spoke to Amit Kumar

Popular 90s singers Abhijeet Bhattacharya and Udit Narayan were featured on a recent episode of Indian Idol 12, shortly after a controversy erupted around the comments of another guest. Amit Kumar, the son of legendary singer Kishore Kumar, had alleged that he'd been told to praise the contestants regardless of his actual thoughts about their performances.

Abhijeet in an interview said that he prefers to give Amit the benefit of the doubt, and implied that his comments had been misrepresented.

He told PeepingMoon, "There is no controversy. I spoke to Amit Kumar ji after the incident. Firstly, he didn't say the statement on camera. It was neither a video nor audio. People trusted what print media told them. It was blown out of proportion unnecessarily."

In an interview with a leading daily, Amit had said, "I did what I was told. I was told sabko praise karna hai. I was told jo jaisa bhi gaaye usko uplift karna hai (I was told to praise everyone and to uplift everyone, no matter how they sang) because it's a tribute to Kishore da." His comments caused controversy and attracted conflicted reactions from the industry.

Several people, including Udit and Aditya Narayan, Sonu Nigam, Manoj Muntashir and Kumar Sanu have reacted to Amit's comments. While some, like Aditya, said that it was unfair of Amit to make such statements, others like Sonu sided with him.

Also read: Indian Idol 12 judge Manoj Muntashir says Amit Kumar ‘took money’ to come on show, then criticised it

Reacting to Sonu's video message on the fiasco, Abhijeet had commented, "Well said Sonu. I’m coming for the 1st time on @indian.idol2021 this week .. found Super talented singers there, no idea what Amit ji commented , but let me reveal that I learned a lot watching his performances, he is one of the greatest showman.. love and respect for Amit Dada.”