Playback singer Sonu Nigam is facing the wrath of the Kannada film industry after allegedly linking fans' repeated requests at his Bengaluru concert to the Pahalgam attack. Even after apologising, his song from the upcoming Kannada film, 'Kuladalli Keelyavudo', has been removed. The makers of the film confirmed the news through a press note.

The statement from the makers of 'Kuladalli Keelyavudo' read, "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 Nigam sang the song, 'Manasu haadtade', for the film, directed by K Ramnarayan. Composed by Manomurthy and written by Yogaraj Bhat, the song generated buzz.

Now, the makers have removed the song and roped in Kannada singer Chethan to record the song. Also, the film's producer, Santosh Kumar, announced his decision not to collaborate with Sonu Nigam for his future projects.

At the Bengaluru concert, Sonu Nigam shut down a student's repeated requests to sing in Kannada and allegedly linked it to Pahalgam terror attack. He found the person's tone to be rude and said, "I had started singing Kannada songs even before he was born. This is why the Pahalgam attack happened... for such a kind of attitude. At least see who is in front of you before making such demands."

Later, the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) instructed everyone to halt professional engagements with Sonu Nigam.

After justifying his comments, he apologised to Karnataka stating, "My love for you, is bigger than my ego (sic)."

During the concert, Sonu Nigam said that four-five goon-like people threatened him to sing Kannada songs right after he completed his first song. In his statement, he defended himself, stating that he had a list which featured Kannada songs for an hour. But, he was threatened by young boys.

In a statement, he said that he is not a young lad to take the humiliation. Later, when KFCC barred him, he apologised.

An FIR was registered against him for linking the incident with Pahalgam attack. The Karnataka police issued a notice to Nigam asking him to appear for questioning. Action will be taken against him after the clips from the concert are verified by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL).

Source: India Today