Deriding Hinduism seems to have become an addiction for Bollywood. Recently, they again repeated this offence with a new song called ‘Madhuban’. However, after massive backlash, Saregama has promised to take it back.
Saregama releases a controversial song
Saregama, India’s oldest music label, has come under the biggest controversy of its 75-year old history. Recently, it released a song called ‘Madhuban’ on its YouTube channel. Within 5 days of its release, the song became a massive hit on the platform.
However, soon after its release, the song came under controversy for insulting Hinduism. The item song, starring Sunny Leone, clearly insults Maa Radha, wife of Bhagwan Krishna.
Hindus did not tolerate the insult of Maa Radhe
Apparently, the lyrics of the song along with the theme did not bode well for Hindus. Pandits practicing their art in Mathura demanded a ban on the song and accused Sunny Leone of hurting Hindus’ sentiments by performing an ‘obscene’ dance.
Narottam Mishra warns Sunny Leone
Understanding Hindus’ sentiments, Narottam Mishra, home minister of Madhya Pradesh, issued a public warning to actress Sunny Leone and singers Shaarib and Toshi. He asked them to withdraw the music video and apologise within a 72-hour period.
Terming people engaged in the making of the song as Vidharmis, Shri Mishra said, “Some vidharmis are constantly hurting Hindu sentiments. The video Madhuban me Radhika nache is one such condemnable attempt. I am warning Sunny Leone ji, Shaarib and Toshi ji to understand. If they don’t remove the song after apologising in three days, then we will take action against them,”
Saregama withdraws the song due to fear of boycott
In the wake of possible legal and commercial consequences, Saregama came up with a clarification. Working on the strict timeline of 72-hours given by Shri Mishra, the music level owned by Sanjiv Goenka Group promised to release a new song within 3 days.
In a pinned tweet, Saregama said, “In light of the recent feedback & respecting the sentiments of our fellow countrymen, we will be changing the lyrics & the name of the song Madhuban. The new song will replace the old one across all platforms over the next 3 days,”
Announcement: 🙏 pic.twitter.com/lOJotcd04p
— Saregama (@saregamaglobal) December 26, 2021
The music video describes Radhika dancing like a peacock in the jungle. In the video footage, a woman named Radhika (played by Sunny Leone) is shown dancing with various women while drooling on men in the background. Hindus associate this kind of behavior to an evil lady like Surpnakha, whose nose was chopped off by Bhagwan Laxman, brother of Bhagwan Ram. Since, Hindus worship Radhe as Maa, such outrage from the awakened citizens was very well expected.
Hindus’ bashing- A formula to earn money by Bollywood
Several companies have now started to face both legal as well as commercial consequences of hurting Hindus’ sentiments. Many anti-Hindu advertisements were forced to issue an apology because of the backlash received by the Hindu community. FabIndia had gone into financial loss due to an active boycott by Hindus.
Also read: Some advertisements that clearly aim at breaking the core of Hindu Dharma
The pushback by Hindus and resultant obligation by companies is clear evidence that Hindus are not going to allow anyone to tamper with their culture. It’s time for the entertainment industry to stop playing with Hindus’ sentiments and find alternate ways to fill their coffers.