Ruchika Uniyal (THE TIMES OF INDIA; March 4, 2020)

New Delhi: The coronavirus scare may have hit many businesses hard, but for the Bhojpuri music industry, it’s providing grist for more songs and videos. Scores of melodies — from suggestive to devotional — on Covid-19 can now be found online, with some garnering lakhs of views.

The songs feature both established singers and amateurs belting out sexist, and often racist, tunes. Many are replete with misinformation; one song says ice-cream and cold drink can raise coronavirus risk. Another urges PM Narendra Modi to “do something about the virus since injections and medicines are ineffective”. A third implores gods to save Indians from the outbreak while dishing out “home remedies” such as drinking water boiled with garlic.

Om Kumar, in whose Gorakhpur studio one such tune was recorded, told TOI: “Every time something important occurs, I try to push out a song on it. The idea behind this one was to bring advice from experts to people so they know how to stay safe.”

While many of these songs are audio only, with still images of skimpily-clad women and coronavirus pathogens pasted on screen, a few have random shots of people in China wearing masks. One song’s poster declares — ‘Maut se bachna hai to zarur sune (If you want to live, you must listen to this)’.

The “buzz” around Covid-19 has inspired some newbies to take the plunge. Deoria-based Govind Barbar has switched from singing deshbhakti songs to the more topical issue of coronavirus. He recently shelled out Rs 4,000 to get ‘Corona lehenga ma’ penned by Kamlesh Bedardi recorded in a studio. “Everyone is talking about coronavirus, that’s why I wrote a song on it,” he told TOI. Barbar insisted the song — which seems to warn women that they are likely to get the infection if they wear skimpy clothes — promotes “sanskar”.

At least three other songs have references to coronavirus “invading” lehengas (skirts) and choli (blouses), including one by Guddu Rangila, which has 3 lakh views. Two of them are constructed around Holi, with one song lamenting that bhabhi — a figure often sexualised in Indian pop culture — can’t play colours with her husband or devar (brother-in-law) this year since her lehenga is infected with coronavirus.

Another song ‘Hello Kaun, Coronavirus’ by Khushboo Uttam and Praveen Uttam has nearly 1 lakh views. In between coughing and sneezing fits, a man who recently returned from China is begging his girlfriend to meet him. She then asks him, “What gift did you get me from China? Coronavirus?” She then proceeds to question whether “he ate snakes and bats while he was there”. The man placates her by saying the virus, like all made-in-China things, “won’t last long”.

Some netizens aren’t impressed. Many comments on the videos have urged singers to stop making fun of a public health emergency.

Sonu Nigam responds to Gorakhpur Mahotsav team’s legal threat after singer refused to perform on revised date or return advance payment
MID-DAY (February 18, 2020)

Festival organisers of the recently concluded Gorakhpur Mahotsav have threatened to issue an administrative notice to Sonu Nigam after he failed to perform at the Bollywood Night event, when an initially decided upon date was revised.

Festivities had been brought to a standstill on January 13, after the Indian government declared a day of mourning in the wake of the January 10 death of the Sultan of Omar, Qaboos bin Said. Nigam, who was appointed for an act on January 13, couldn’t take up the offer to perform on January 15 instead, owing to prior commitments. While he was willing to have his act rescheduled to a future date, he apparently refused to refund the advance payment of Rs 40 lakh.

Nigam tells mid-day, “When a show is booked, [apart from the singer], musicians, engineers and technicians charge [for] the time [they are allotting]. When the organisers cancel a show, it isn’t [the artistes’] fault. Hence, their demand is surprising. Had it been cancelled from my end, I would be more than happy to comply. I have agreed to perform again next year at the function, because this year’s act was called off. I don’t see [the reason behind] this hue and cry.”

Saqib Saleem on making his web debut with the crime drama and how the debacle of Race 3 affected him
Letty Mariam Abragam (MID-DAY; January 2, 2019)

How would you describe your journey in the industry?
When I came to the city, I had no idea that I harboured an interest in acting. I am a Delhi boy who came here for love. I was lucky to get my first break [Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge] within a year. By my third film, I realised this is what I wanted to do for a living. That’s when I took myself seriously. However, I lost my way somewhere in between. Barring Race 3, I have never been criticised for my work. It was the biggest film of my career; I had never faced so many cameras in my life or been exposed to so many journalists. While it did not satisfy me as an actor, I have no regrets about doing the film. When you get to work with Prem Bhai [Salman Khan], Mr India [Anil Kapoor], and Soldier [Bobby Deol], one can’t have regrets.

How did the debacle of Race 3 affect you?
I am a person who reads every review. For days, I couldn’t get out of my bed. My confidence was at an all-time low, and I began to question my skills. I was facing borderline depression, so much so that I stopped picking up my parents’ calls. When I did content-driven films, no one recognised me. When Race 3 happened, people were suddenly interested in my life. So, I thought commercial cinema was the way to go. But every film is a learning experience.

Why did you opt for Rangbaaz?
I was done playing hero, and Rangbaaz gave me the opportunity to showcase my acting skills. I loved the script and more importantly, the research material. I read it in one night and was ready to give my nod.

How difficult was it to play a character as distanced from you — Shivprakash Shukla, a gangster from Gorakhpur?
Mentally, I still haven’t let go of the character. I am scared to do so because I’ve loved the character. It’s like eating a beef burger where I just can’t have enough (laughs).

Do you empathise with your character?
I could not comprehend his sense of right and wrong. At times, I found myself judging him; but I realised if I did that, I wouldn’t be able to play him. His right and wrong became my right and wrong. I learnt the dialect and diction used in Gorakhpur. I didn’t feel anything for the character. He doesn’t feel sorry for himself, so why should I?

MID-DAY (January 12, 2018)

The lyricist of a song dedicated to a sect that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath belongs to, has threatened to sue Bollywood singer Kailash Kher for defamation.

Vimal Bawra said the tune of his Nath Yogi, the theme song for the Gorakhpur Mahotsav, which opened on Wednesday, is based on a Bhojpuri folk ditty that he had heard a beggar woman sing more than 30 years ago.

Kher has accused Bawra of copying the tune and lyrics of the song, which the playback singer said he had performed at a Mahashivratri programme attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Coimbatore last year. The six-minute-long Nath Yogi song will be played during the three- day festival at Gorakhpur.

A Sufi singer from Gazipur, Bawra, whose son has sung the theme song, in turn accused Kher of copying Bhojpuri numbers. “I am consulting my legal advisor for a case of defamation against false allegations. If anyone has to say anything against Nath Yogi, he should go to court and I will answer him there,” Bawra said.

He claimed the song was an original composition and not a copy. The similarity between the two songs is the word Yogi, which is associated with the Nath cult and no one can write a Nath cult song without using the word ‘yogi’ or ‘jogi’,” he said.

The tune of the song was based on a Bhojpuri folk song, he added. “I got inspired by a beggar woman’s song. In 1987, when I was travelling in a train, she was singing ‘Solah saal ki kanya kumara re bani’,” he said. “If my song resembles any other song, it is only the beggar’s song,” Bawra asserted.

Maintaining that he had not copied any tune, he said the raga of the two songs was the same. “A raga is not subject to copyright,” he added. “I don’t want to take anybody's s name, but this kind of attitude against my 19-year-old son is surprising. Moreover, the song is for a great event — the Gorakhpur Mahotsav — and not for any commercial purpose,” he said.

Kher had alleged that the tune and some of the words of the mahotsav theme song were similar to his song.