Sonu Nigam has alleged Bhushan Kumar of maligning his name for speaking out against favouritism in the music industry, resulting in a sharp rejoinder from the music mogul’s wife Divya Khosla Kumar who appeared to challenge the singer by saying, “the war is on.”
Divya Khosla Kumar has responded to the allegations levelled against Bhushan Kumar in a video on Instagram. She uploaded the video with the caption, “The Bitter Truth #SonuNigam.”
In the 11-minute video, Divya Khosla Kumar says that T-Series has given a break to many outsiders including singers, music directors, lyricists and actors. She then questions Sonu Nigam if he has ever promoted any new talent in the industry. She says, “You (Sonu) are a legend. How many people have you given a break to?” And then herself answers, “No one.” Divya further claims that “97% people working in T-Series are outsiders, not industry kids.”
Divya then claims that Sonu used to “sing in Delhi’s Ramleela for Rs 5. It was there that Gulshan Kumar spotted him, recognised his talent and gave him a flight ticket to Mumbai and told him, ‘Son, I will make you a big artiste.'”
She also calls her cook Sheru on camera to corroborate her claims as she says he has been with the family since 1988.
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Divya Khosla Kumar then claims that Sonu Nigam left T-Series immediately after Gulshan Kumar was assassinated and “joined another music company instead of helping Bhushan Kumar during T-Series’ trying times.” She then questions Sonu as to “why would Bhushan come to you to save himself from Abu Salem? Did Sonu Nigam ji have relations with Abu Salem?” She also demands an investigation into the matter.
Divya Khosla Kumar also says in the video that since Sonu Nigam’s video came out, Bhushan Kumar has been receiving “death threats”, she has been receiving “rape threats,” and even her child is being “threatened” on social media.
With Sushant Singh Rajput’s untimely death on June 14, Bollywood is grappling with criticism surrounding its nepotistic culture and now Nigam has criticised music labels for crushing talented singers.
Nigam posted a video on Facebook on June 18, claiming that there are “bigger mafias” in the music industry who call the shots regarding which artiste should work on a song. In the video, he had claimed that the music industry is controlled by two companies, without taking any names.
The 46-year-old singer had also said that if this culture continues, people would hear about suicides from the music industry as well.
On Monday, Nigam again uploaded a video and said that even though he didn’t take any names, Bhushan Kumar of T-Series sent out “press releases” in the media quoting six singers to counter the singer’s views that the industry doesn’t run on favouritism.
Sonu Nigam claimed that Bhushan Kumar would come to him asking for help when Abu Salem, 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case convict, threatened him.
