New Delhi: After Diljit Dosanjh called out the double standards of Telangana government for banning songs promoting alcohol in his concert, celebrated rapper Badshah came out in his support.
In an interview with Sahitya Aaj Tak on Friday, Badshah criticised the Telangana government for its directive to ban songs on alcohol when liquor is sold legally in most states.
Badshah also said that an artist’s work reflects things that happen in the society around him. So, songs on alcohol can be banned only when liquor is banned in the country.
Supporting Diljit, Badshah said, “He is totally right. You are telling him not to sing or make songs about alcohol but then you’re selling liquor everywhere. Why shouldn’t they be made? An artist represents society and that’s what makes them relevant and the reason why people love them. They speak about things that the whole world wants to say. If you don’t want him to sing about something, then that thing shouldn’t be in the society in the first place.”
Addressing Diljit as an elder brother, Badshah said, “He means a lot to me because he is like an elder brother to me and whenever I face a problem in life, he has always been there for me and to guide me. I think there is a lot to be learned from him, he is an inspiration. He is a very nice person. One should always treat such a person with care in life.”
Badshah further said that the Telangana government must be having “some kind of problem” which people might not be aware of and thus, they treated Diljit in such a way.
Talking about songs which promote guns, Badshah said, “We come from a place that represents machismo and alpha male. For example, there is Divine who raps about ‘gully’, the place he comes from. We have been brought up like this. Bullets fly in our weddings. I’m not promoting this but this is the culture we have grown up with and we end up writing about it.”
Badshah and Diljit have collaborated on chartbusters namely ‘Proper Patola’ and ‘Naina’ from the recent movie ‘Crew’.
Asked about his equation with Pakistani actor Hania Aamir, the rapper replied, “We have a good connection with each other. We have fun whenever we meet, it’s just that and nothing else. She is happy in her life and I’m in mine. There is nothing else to it… People think whatever they want to.”
Ahead of Diljit’s concert in Cyberabad, the Telangana government issued a notice to the Dil-Luminati organisers asking them to avoid performing on songs promoting drugs, alcohol and violence.
The notice also stated that children should not be used on stage during his concert.
Following the notice, Diljit replaced the word ‘alcohol’ with ‘Coke’ in his songs.
