Shah Rukh Khan’s Rivals Called Him ‘Hakla’, Reveals Singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya

Mumbai: Playback singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya, who lent his lip for Shah Rukh Khan, revealed that King Khan was given the name ‘Hakla’ (a person who has stammering problem) by his rivals.

During a conversation with Subhankar Mishra on his podcast, Abhijeet spoke about working with Shah Rukh and why he chose to stop singing for the Bollywood superstar.

“I had become choosy, and I became a little too mindful about this and decided that I will not sing for anyone else but Shah Rukh. That became a problem, because many of his contemporaries called him ‘hakla’ (stammerer). So what happened was, there was an award ceremony in Dubai where I had won an award for Tumhe Jo Maine Dekha,” Abhijeet said.

“When I was getting down from the stage, there was one star who came forward and said, ‘Aye! hakle ke liye gaa raha hai na tu (You are singing for that stammerer)?’ Two people said this together. I was shocked! I was like why are they feeling jealous, I got the award for my singing. After that experience, I kept losing interest in playback singing and started focusing on my shows and concerts. Even today, I am very happy doing that,” the singer revealed.

Abhijeet has sung several hit songs for Shah Rukh, including Tumne Jo Maine Dekha from ‘Main Hoon Na’, Tauba Tumhare Ishare from ‘Chalte Chalte’, Chaand Taare from ‘Yes Boss’ and Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Main from ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayege’.