The entertainment industry is abuzz with speculation as to why singer Arijit Singh’s New Year’s eve concert was cancelled.
The BJP’s Amit Malviya tweeted, “Sr Bachchan was on dot when he spoke about shrinking space for civil liberties and freedom of expression at the Kolkata Film Festival.Arijit Singh who sang “Rang de tu mohe gerua”, with Mamata Banerjee on the dais now finds his show at EcoPark cancelled by HIDCO, a WB Govt body.”
But singer Baabul Supriyo who is the Cabinet Minister of Information Technology and Electronics and Tourism of the Government of West Bengal protests on behalf of Mamta . “No one said anything or accused Shah Rukh Khan of supporting Saffronisation when he sang ‘Rang de mujhe Gerua’… then why is Arijit Singh singing one of his popular songs for SRK, when SRK himself is present on stage, being deplorably politicised and mis-used’ by the BJP. It is so mindless & petty !!”
Shedding light on the cancellation Baabul explains, “Arijit Singh’s venue change was decided by his organisers on the 8th of December, a week before he sang the song during KIFF inaugural function. The show isn’t cancelled and his team has actually inspected Aquatica, the venue where they wish to do the show..Also, to my understanding, Amitji (Bachchan) surely spoke about the divisive malice and hate being spread in the field of Art and films with all these ‘boycott’ trends etc. Bollywood today surely feels different, vulnerable & insecure, amidst all this. BJP should rather look into their own backyard and ‘get the message’ instead of indulging in a political slugfest.”