Amid the backlash over the kiss controversy, Udit Narayan’s close friend, singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya, called him a “khiladi.”
The incident sparked immediate backlash due to his inappropriate behavior. Amid the backlash, Udit’s close friend, singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya, stepped in, referring to him as a ‘khiladi.’
Abhijeet Bhattacharya posted a video on his Instagram featuring a compilation of their live performances, where they sang the title track Main Khiladi Tu Anari from the 1994 film. The song was originally performed by the iconic singer duo. In the caption, Abhijeet wrote, “#YehKhiladiMainAnari,” and in the comments, he added, “Mera Khiladi dost,” referring to Udit as his “Khiladi friend.”
Padma Shri & Padma Bhushan Udit Narayan kissing girls of his daughter age in live concert.
It is these Bollywood people who have done the most harm to our Indian Culture and Civilization #UditNarayan pic.twitter.com/TtzGgYPCSr
— Sumit Jaiswal (@sumitjaiswal02) February 1, 2025
Meanwhile, Udit Narayan addressed the controversy by stating that he feels neither ashamed nor apologetic about his actions. In an interview with ETimes, the Veer-Zaara singer explained that the video in question was filmed months ago during an international concert. He expressed his suspicion about the sudden reappearance of the video, saying, “There is something definitely suspicious about this. Why did the video suddenly appear, and that too from a concert from some months ago in the US or Canada?” The singer also sent a message to those trying to tarnish his reputation, saying, “The harder you try to pull me down, the higher I will go.”
Asked him if he’s ashamed about his reaction to the female fan, Udit added, “No, not at all! Why should I be? It is not something sleazy or secret. It is there in the public domain. My heart is pure. If some people want to see something dirty in an act of pure affection, then I feel sorry for them.” Udit further thanks those who are calling it ‘dirty’ because they have made him more ‘famous’ now.
When asked to justify his kiss to the female fan, Udit asserted, “There is a deep pure and unbreakable bond between my fans and me. What you saw in the so-called scandalous video was a manifestation of the love between my fans and I. They love me and I love them back even more.”
For the unversed, Udit Narayan has been active in films as a singer since 1980 and has sung over 2000 songs in different languages, including Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Bengali, Sindhi, Odia, Bhojpuri, Nepali, Malayalam, Assamese, Bagheli and Maithili.