This quote of George Orwell is extremely relevant in today’s times. When in the name of political correctness, it is even criminal to speak the harsh truth, people like Sonu Nigam continue to restore sanity with their bold comments on issues that really need our attention as Indian citizens.
In a media conference, Sonu Nigam expressed concerns at the deterioration of the quality of songs and the current collection of songs that are in the trend. However, what attracted the attention of both his followers and the media was his jibe at Bollywood. Sonu Nigam stated that ‘it would be better had I been from Pakistan’, hitting directly at Bollywood’s never ending penchant for Pakistani artists and singers.
Sonu Nigam was a delegate at the Agenda Aaj Tak Media Summit where he raised his point about the preferential treatment that Bollywood continues to give to Pakistani singers and artists, ignoring their Indian counterparts.
To quote his critical observation, “Nowadays, singers have to pay music companies for shows. If we don’t shell out the money, they will play songs sung by other singers and highlight them. Then, they will take money from them. Why single out Indian singers? They don’t do the same with Pakistani singers. Atif Aslam is a very close friend of mine. He is never asked to pay to sing at shows, neither is Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.”
He then took a jibe at the music companies as he said, “Sometimes, I feel as if it would have been better if I were from Pakistan. At least I would get offers from India.”
Criticizing the commercialization of songs, Sonu also lambasted at the growing trend of plagiarized content being served in the name of Bollywood Music. According to him, “Earlier, composers, lyricists and singers created a song. Now, music companies have taken over that job.”
This is not the first time that Sonu Nigam has taken on people for being hypocritical in their approach. He posted a long but caustic thread, lambasting people for using loudspeakers regularly, irrespective of religion, in order to show their love for their God at the cost of other people’s peace.
Even though he didn’t make a direct attack on the controversial ‘azaan’, the left liberals and the Islamic community took it on themselves and roasted him for his comments, with some even going to the extent of threatening him with legal action, death and harassment to his relatives.
However, when one Bengali cleric took it too far by announcing to reward anyone who would shave his head, Sonu himself got his head shaved and asked the cleric to send the reward to his barber, famous hair stylist Aalim Hakim, who had done the job for Sonu Nigam. It was another matter that a concerted campaign by the vicious left liberals forced Sonu Nigam to quit Twitter altogether.
Also, Sonu Nigam has hit the nail right on the head when it comes to criticizing Bollywood for their penchant for Pakistani singers and artists. Despite the monstrosity of Uri attacks, and the refusal of Pakistani artists to condemn such terror attacks, Bollywood has no qualms in appointing Pakistani artists, especially singers like Shafqat Amanat Ali, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Atif Aslam etc. for projects like ‘Namaste England’, ‘Simmba’. Are the Indian singers so bad? Do they lack the so called quality and finesse that makes the Pakistani singers the top choice for elite music companies?
As such, it is rather welcoming that Sonu Nigam has spoken out the truth and we hope that his request is taken sincerely.