'He Must Pay A Price': Kannada Director K Ramnarayan On Replacing Sonu Nigam's Songs In Upcoming Film

Singer Sonu Nigam's apology is not enough, he must also face repercussions for saying such harsh words, said Kannada director K Ramnarayan on Thursday (May 8). Ramnarayan said he replaced two songs sung by Nigam in his upcoming film, 'Kuladalli Keelyavudo' with track versions.

"Just saying sorry will not cut it. Connecting Kannada pride to the national tragedy that happened in Pahalgam is a very grave mistake. He must pay a price for that," said Ramnarayan to PTI.

According to him, his latest film, 'Kuladalli Keelyavudo', expected in theatres from May 23, has already released three songs to publicise the film -- two of which are by Nigam.

"In fact, he sang the title track, which is a tribute to possibly the most famous Kannada song, featured in legendary actor Rajkumar's 1965 film, 'Satya Harishchandra'. The original 'Kuladalli Keelyavudo' is so sacred for the Kannada film industry - our orchestra while recording songs end by playing this song. How can this song be sung by someone like Nigam who thinks so lowly of us," said Ramnarayan.

The director said both the songs sung by Nigam -- other one is 'Manasu Haadtade' -- are being replaced with the "track singer" versions.

"Track singer is Chethan Sosca. We actually liked the track versions of both the songs that we had sent to Nigam so he could get an idea of the tune. Now, we are fine tuning them, so we could release them with Chethan's voice," added Ramnarayan.

In music production, a "track singer" refers to a singer who initially records a vocal performance for a song, often as a demo.

While 'Kuladalli Keelyavudo' has already been removed from YouTube by the makers, Nigam's version of 'Manasu Haadtade' is still available on his YouTube channel.

"I have a very long association with Nigam, who has sung more than 1,000 songs in Kannada. The song that I wrote, 'Ninna Nodalentho' for the film 'Mussanje Maatu', featuring Kannada stars Sudeep Kiccha and Ramya, was sung by Nigam almost 12 years ago," said Ramnarayan, who wrote scripts and lyrics before he started directing.

The director, who has seven films to his credit, including the blockbuster 'Tyson', said the song won a Filmfare award for Nigam.

"We were all so happy for him then. He deserved that award. Just like now, he deserves a ban from the Kannada industry. Someone of his stature should think more before they hurl hurtful words at others," said Ramnarayan.

Nigam on Monday (May 5) issued an apology following his Bengaluru concert row. He shared a post on his Instagram handle and said his love for Karnataka is bigger than his ego.

"Sorry, Karnataka. My Love for you, is bigger than my Ego. Love you always," Nigam wrote in his post.

A complaint was filed by the pro-Kannada organisation Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) against the singer for reportedly retorting, "Kannada. Kannada. This is the reason behind the incident in Pahalgam," in response to an audience member's request to sing in Kannada.

The incident occurred during a live concert on April 25 at a college in Bengaluru. Nigam paused his performance when someone from the audience loudly demanded that he sing in Kannada. Frustrated by the repeated shouts of "Kannada, Kannada," the singer responded sharply from the stage.