Singer Lucky Ali recently courted controversy after calling out Javed Akhtar over a controversial Hindu-Muslim remark from a past event that resurfaced online. While some supported his remarks, others hailed his comment as distasteful. After this became a social media chatter, the O Sanam singer apologised to the veteran lyricist-poet.
It all began when an X (formerly Twitter) user shared Javed Akhtar’s quote urging Hindus “not to be like Muslims" in a year-old interview for IFP (India Film Project). Why the old video is going viral now is not known yet.
What did Javed Akhtar say and how did Lucky Ali react to it?
During the IFP interview, Javed Akhtar, who was the screenwriter for Sholay along with Salim Khan, spoke about the iconic 'Yunki ye kaun bola' scene from the film starring Hema Malini and Dharmendra. He said, "In Sholay, there was a scene where Dharmendra hides behind Shiv ji's murti and speaks, and Hema Malini (thinks) Shiv ji is talking to her. Is it possible to have a scene like that today? No, I will not write a scene (like this today). Were there no Hindus in 1975 (when Sholay released)? Were there no dharmic people? There were."
However, his line that gave rise to a social media storm was: "As a matter of fact, I'm on record, I'm not saying it right here. Raju Hirani and I were in Pune in front of a big audience and I said 'Don't become like Muslims. Make them like yourself. You are becoming like Muslims'. It's a tragedy."
The statement left social media users divided. While some supported the lyricist, others, including Lucky Ali, criticised him. Responding directly to Akhtar's statement, the Hairat singer wrote, "Don’t become like Javed Akhtar, never original and ugly as f**k." Take a look:
Lucky Ali's apology to Javed Akhtar
Though Javed Akhtar didn't react to Lucky Ali's remarks, the latter apologised on a separate X post. However, a section of social media users were of the opinion that Lucky was sarcastic in his apology. "What I meant was that arrogance is ugly.... it was a mistaken communique' on my part.... monsters may have feelings too and I apologise if I hurt anyones monstrosity (sic)."
So far, Javed Akhtar has not publicly responded to Lucky Ali’s remarks.
