Renowned playback singer Sonu Nigam has expressed his disappointment over being overlooked at the recently held IIFA Awards in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The singer, who was not even nominated, took a subtle yet pointed dig at the awards on Instagram on Tuesday (March 11).
Sharing a screenshot of this year's nominees, Sonu wrote, "Thank you IIFA... After all, you were answerable to the Rajasthan bureaucracy."
His remark is believed to be linked to an incident from three months ago when he was left feeling disrespected after Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma and other Ministers walked out of his concert midway while he was still performing in Jaipur.
Soon after Sonu shared the post, his fans said that he deserved an award for Mere Dholna 3.0. The song is a part of Kartik Aaryan's Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3. It was composed by Amaal Malik.
"You truly deserved that trophy sir ❤️" a user commented under his post. "Fake Awards Goes to autotune ? You are above Awards," read another comment.
"Dada you are above these awards to be honest. We all love you," read another comment.
"Soch kar dekhiye, kiska nuksan? For sure, not yours ❤️Aap khud kisi award se kam nahi," another fan commented.
This year, Jubin Nautiyal took home the Best Playback Singer (Male) award for the song Dua from Yami Gautam's Article 370. Along with Jubin, Karan Aujla, Diljit Dosanjh, Mitraz and Arijit Singh were also nominated.
Sonu Nigam's controversy involving Rajasthan CM
While the singer has not elaborated further on his statement, his recent post hints at a possible connection between his past experience in Rajasthan and the IIFA snub.
In December 2024, Sonu performed at the Rising Rajasthan event in Jaipur, which was graced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, CM Bhajan Lal Sharma and other Ministers. However, the singer was left with a bitter after-taste as the CM and other ministers left his concert midway while he was still performing on stage.
Sonu later took to his Instagram to share a video in which he can be seen taking a sarcastic dig at politicians for insulting artists and performers.
He said, "I just want to request all politicians that if you want to leave a show midway then don't attend it in the first place, or leave before the concert begins. It is very disrespectful to leave abruptly while an artist is performing on stage. Ye Saraswati ka apmaan hai."
Sonu added that the incident was brought to his notice by the others who enjoyed his concert and texted him saying that he should not perform for politicians where he was not respected.
