Mumbai: Playback singer Shreya Ghoshal recently reflected on her experience of lending her voice to raunchy item songs like ‘Chikni Chameli’, stating that she would no longer sing such songs.
Her remarks sparked widespread criticism on social media, with many users calling her out.
Addressing the backlash, the singer clarified that she no regrets about the track itself but has chosen not to record similar songs moving forward. “That song is not just a fun number; there’s a lot of artistry in it. There were toned-down versions too. The one that finally appeared in the film was more subtle than the original drafts, though still suggestive. At that time, I didn’t always understand what I was singing. I wasn’t mature enough to fully grasp the meaning of certain lines,” she said during a recent podcast with Raj Shamani, Shreya.
When Raj pointed out the trolling she faced for performing the song at concerts, Shreya clarified, “Yes, I did perform it. I like that song. I think it’s good. But I won’t record songs like that anymore. I’m not embarrassed. I sang that song at that time. It’s one song I will always have to live with, where even children in the audience may dance to it. Sometimes I close my eyes. But I cannot disown it. It’s my song. I’ve owned it.”
For the unversed, during a chat with Lilly Singh in 2025, Shreya admitted, “There is a very fine line between being sensual, sexy, and being outright objectified, or objectifying women in general. The reason I’ve become more conscious over time is that I see little girls singing these songs without understanding their meaning. They’re just dancing to them, and they come to me saying, ‘Oh, we love your song! Can we sing it for you?’ and I feel very embarrassed. A little girl, just five or six years old, singing those lyrics, it doesn’t sound right.”
Her statement drew flak and social media users trolled her, labelling her a hypocrite.
Shreya recently announced her world tour, ‘The Unstoppable World Tour’, with performances scheduled in the UK, USA, India and Abu Dhabi.
