Sonu Nigam slams Karan Johar's Mohammed Rafi joke in 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil'

Anushka Sharma and Ranbir Kapoor in a still from 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil'; (inset) Karan Johar

A line mouthed by Anushka Sharma in Karan Johar's 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' - '[Mohammed] Rafi gaatey kam, rotey zyaada the' - has stirred up a hornet's nest with the legendary musician's son, Shahid Rafi has demanded a public apology from the filmmaker and that the scene be deleted (Read more). Now Bollywood's ace singer, Sonu Nigam has also expressed displeasure over the usage of the dialogue.

"Indians were known for something called adab [manners]; that is history now. If one is okay with a similar joke on their father, there is no issue. But, you are aware that a word against one's father's achievements boils their blood. Rafi saab is a musical father to me and many others. How can the sons be okay with this disrespect?"
asks Sonu.

Sonu Nigam; (inst) Mohammed Rafi

He says the film's makers were careless in making the reference to Rafi. "If they had said 'Rafi wahi na jinkey gaane rone waale hote the', there wouldn't have been such a big issue. But saying 'Rafi wahi jo gaate kam the aur rotey zyadaa the' is obnoxious. He is the king of singers. Using frivolous words for someone of his stature is unacceptable and offensive."

Sonu suggests a little more effort in improving the dialogue and the situation could have been avoided. "They could have made Ranbir [Kapoor's character] respond to Anushka's dialogue with 'Kuch bhi mat bol, Rafi saab bahut bade singer the.' That could have salvaged the situation," he adds.