New Delhi: To an older generation, the words ‘Madhuban mein Radhika naache’ evoke memories of the 1960 film Kohinoor. Composed by Naushad, with lyrics penned by Shakeel Badayuni, sung by Mohammad Rafi and enacted on-screen by Dilip Kumar, the Hindustani classical music-based song is one of the most memorable in all these artistes’ repertoires.
But to a new generation, ‘Naache madhuban mein Radhika’ could soon mean a dance number starring Sunny Leone, performed in a club.
The song, released by Saregama Music on YouTube Wednesday, has already racked up 250,000 views in the first six hours since it dropped. It is composed by Shaarib & Toshi, voiced by Kanika Kapoor, and choreographed by Ganesh Acharya.
Apart from the rearranged opening lyrics, the rest of the song bears no resemblance to the 1960 classic. It goes:
“Naache madhuban mein Radhika
Jungle mein naache jaise mor
Re saawariya morey
Saawariya tu hi dil ka chor”.
Outrage begins online
The song has also already garnered major flak for “hurting Hindu sentiments”.
The top comment on the YouTube link to the song at the time of filing this report was: “The old song ‘Madhuban mein Radhika naache re’ conveyed her love for Krishna so beautifully. Why use reference to Radhika and Madhuban for a sensual song! This is outrageous!! I get why these songs are made, but come up with something more appropriate for them instead of butchering Hindu sentiments.”
The comment was posted by a user named Amogh.
On Twitter too, a lot of users are saying the new song hurts Hindu sentiments:
https://twitter.com/yoddhahindkaa/status/1473625380716101632
https://twitter.com/neelkantha_/status/1473625169159618560
Calls to boycott the song have also been made.
https://twitter.com/ex_secular__/status/1473608086594080770
But it’s not all brickbats for the song; it has also gathered a lot of praise from viewers, who think the pairing of actor Leone and vocalist Kapoor is a smash hit.
“Kanika’s voice is perfect for Sunny Leone,” one user wrote in the comments section on YouTube.
Others wrote prophetic tweets on how successful the new track is going to be.
https://twitter.com/Janet8615/status/1473623703392952324
https://twitter.com/Ananya718/status/1473624687137546246
(Edited by Shreyas Sharma)
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