Actress Nora Fatehi addressed the controversy surrounding her song Sarke Chunar Teri Sarke, from the film KD: The Devil, and said she had no idea about the Hindi version. She also thanked everyone for the backlash because the makers were forced to take down the song because of the criticism.
On Wednesday (March 18), Nora shared a video in which she clarified that she was not aware of the song's Hindi translation as it was shot with her long back in Kannada.
Nora said, "I shot this song three years ago in Kannada. I said yes to it because it was a part of a big film, with a big icon, Sanjay Dutt, who would say no to work with him? He's such an icon. I also thought it is a remake of an iconic song. When I'm on set shooting for this song, I'm relying on the filmmakers to translate the song, and that is what I go by. When they're translating the song to me, nothing seemed inappropriate or vulgar."
The actress added, "Whatever they've done right now, which is creating a Hindi version and dubbing the voice in Hindi and having those lyrics, which are very inappropriate, I had no idea about that. They didn't take any approvals, they didn't take any permission from me."
"Then they created an image of me and Sanjay Dutt, which was AI generated, which I'm already against AI, so I was already feeling really irritated at the event. I had to be respectful regardless. I'm in the presence of media, I'm in the presence of filmmakers, people who give me opportunities, so I have to carry myself in a certain way," Nora went on to say.
She also stated that she disassociated herself with the project after she was unhappy with the Hindi version of the song and its lyrics.
"I again flagged it to the director. I said, my image and reputation is on the line. As artists, especially artists like me, we don't really have this backing. We're not nepo kids. We don't come with a certain power behind us. It's just us. We're just individuals and the audience which is behind us. We have little power. We have little control. Thankfully, I've been lucky in Bollywood to work with a lot of people who have respected my opinion, who have respected my creative call on certain things, and who listen to me. I've been very lucky. However, there are certain places, certain industries, they don't listen. They don't care about my opinion. Because of this backlash, it pushed them to remove these songs and I'm grateful for that."
She also urged the media to mention the filmmakers and hold them accountable in such situations, not the artists.
"You start using their name and images when such controversies arise. You start bombarding their name and images to the audience because then only will they have some fear and they will feel some sort of accountability and responsibility when they create content. If you're only going to bombard the audience with just the artist's name and image, it's counterproductive because we don't have control of such scenarios."
The caption of her post read, "I would hate for anyone to think I endorse this.. thank you for the backlash because of this pressure the filmmakers have luckily taken it down 🙏🏽I'd also request everyone to stop sharing the song because ur just giving it a platform unnecessarily."
"On a side note I see some of u guys trying to use this as an opportunity to attack my character. It’s unfortunate😒 Anyways me and my team will be more careful in the future in such situations. However I do want to reiterate I had no idea about this Hindi song, I did not perform to it and there was no permission taken to use it with my image," she concluded.
The makers of KD: The Devil have taken down Sarke Chunar Teri Sarke from YouTube following strong backlash on social media over its lyrics and presentation. Featuring Nora and Sanjay Dutt, the track sparked criticism, with several viewers calling out what they described as bold lyrics and suggestive choreography.
The song's video remained available on YouTube until March 16, but by the morning of March 17, it had been taken down.
The controversy largely centred around the song’s opening verse, which uses a strong double entendre. Though the lyrics initially appear to hint at an intimate act, the later lines clarify that they refer to a drink and a bottle. Despite this contextual shift, many users continued to criticise the wording, saying it was "inappropriate."
Directed by Prem, KD: The Devil is a Kannada period action drama headlined by Dhruva Sarja. Set in 1970s Bengaluru, the film is said to be inspired by real-life events and follows the journey of Kaali, a small-time criminal who gets drawn into the city’s underworld.
The film also features an ensemble cast including Shilpa Shetty, V Ravichandran and Ramesh Aravind.
