The upcoming film KD-The Devil includes a song called Sarke Chunar Teri Sarke, which features Nora Fatehi and Sanjay Dutt, that has drawn attention because of its disclosures with sexualized lyrics and choreographies. Prem is the writer/director of this film. Rakshita, Prem’s wife (and a former actress), has now openly responded to the controversy regarding this vocal piece. She too is trying to discover why this particular song is experiencing selective indignation when historically, other songs (like Peelings, Dreamum Wakeupum, and Choli Ke Peche) were deemed socially acceptable, as were many movies that included sexual discussions throughout. Since only one particular song is drawing large controversy today, her response does not seek to explain or defend anyone; instead, she is sharing additional information related to her proposal involvement in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the problem.
In her Instagram stories, she posted a dialogue with many notes describing her observation. She stated, I have seen everything. I have seen you tagging me on other people’s posts. I have also read what is included and being posted about the music in question. It does not matter if I approve of it or not; there will never be an answer to the question “If so many songs or films that portray sexuality/discriminating women through sexualized context were previously acceptable, is it acceptable today to have one song express concern for women through sexualized context?” I am interested only in gaining a reasonable answer in order to clarify my own position regarding the event.
She also stated, “I think it’s wrong to downgrade an entire writer’s body of work based upon one song…If a writer has written a number of very successful songs then just because he wrote one that was not successful does not necessarily mean he is not a good writer or does he use tricks to get people to like his songs. Just because some of his films have not been successful doesn’t mean he’s a bad director, either. Yes, you may question him as a songwriter or as a director. Yes, you can ask him why he made that choice. No, you can NOT scold him personally like that woman did when she stated something so personal in her comments about him.”
Rakshita stated, “There’s a huge amount of violence and pornography in films today,” she added. She also believes people should have a level of “awareness” in how they communicate with one another, and made reference to how she has been the target of abuse from “total strangers.” She said “Every single day music is created, some good, some bad, some obscene and some are classics” Audiences today are watching films with explicit violence and sexual content with no hesitation whatsoever. Just like all of you, Prem is a Kannadiga. Therefore, it is your right to question Prem and provide him with your thoughts on what you consider to be right and wrong. It is not right to call him a gimmick for the work he does and it is extremely unfair to ridicule his past projects. Allow me to tell you, that for a Kannada filmmaker, selling his film to an OTT platform or to a television station is enormous amounts of time and effort. It is an extremely difficult task to achieve a level to that of other movie industries, and it is very difficult to get our own audience to the theatres. This, is not only our struggle, but in fact the struggle of the entire Sandalwood industry.
Furthermore, she indicated that abusing a single individual over their job represents the worst part of social media and should not be promoted in any way. She also expressed optimism that everything will get back to normal soon; so she asked the fans for a little patience. To end off her comments, she included, “A big thank you to everyone who has shown concern; I’m very appreciative of you all. I’m still here, and so is Prem. KD is like a child to us, and we will do ultimately what we are meant to do, and that will always be the right thing—only the right thing. Have faith in us; smile more often; and share your love.”
About the controversy
Reportedly, the opening of Sarke Chunar was said to contain a double meaning that indicated sexual activity quite explicitly. The audio was released across different languages (Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada) by Anand Audio – who was the film’s official music partner. The Hindi version has since been removed from YouTube.
Recently, Kangana Ranaut, Armaan Malik and the All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA) have all spoken out against the lyrics of the song based on its objectionable content. A lawyer has also approached the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) asking for a ban on the song, as its content is obscene and may have detrimental effects on minors. A separate criminal complaint has been filed with the Cyber Cell of the Delhi Police regarding the song.
Meanwhile Nora Fatehi claims the song was used without her permission in her statement that she shared on Instagram few hours ago.