Even as a song featuring Sanjay Dutt and Norah Fatehi, ‘Sarke Chunar’, from the film ‘KD The Devil’, kicked up a wave of criticism and outrage over  sexually explicit lyrics, the songwriter Raqueeb Alam distanced himself from the controversy saying he had refused to do the Hindi translation from the original Kannada language.

According to a PTI report from New Delhi yesterday, ‘Sarke Chunar’ has come under fire for its sexually explicit lyrics, drawing widespread criticism. The song has since disappeared from the official YouTube page, despite being widely circulated and shared on social media.

A video of the Hindi song, featuring Dutt and Fatehi, was released on YouTube two days ago and quickly went viral for its shock value. The Kannada film, which will be dubbed into four languages, is set to release on April 30.

The song, according to the PTI report, has come to the attention of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, and there are plans to send a notice to YouTube, as the film itself has not yet been released, a government source said.

Following the furore, the Hindi version is no longer available on YouTube. However, the Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil versions remain accessible on the platform.

Anand Audio holds the music rights to the film, which is backed by KVN Productions.

The Hindi version of the song is sung by Mangli, with original lyrics by Prem, the film’s director. Alam is credited with the Hindi adaptation, while the music is composed by Arjun Janya.

Musician Armaan Malik and filmmaker Onir were among those who expressed their disapproval. “Wish I could unhear it,” said Malik, known for hits such as ‘Bol Do Na Zara’ and ‘Wajah Tum Ho’. “This showed up on my timeline and I had to replay it just to make sure I heard it right. Sad to see commercial songwriting hit a new low. I am genuinely at a loss for words,” he wrote on X.

Filmmaker Onir questioned why the song had not been banned. “And the censor board is busy with the naming of a film #GhooskhorPandat. Strange country we are becoming… opposing Valentine’s Day celebrations, interfaith marriage/celebrations, while being okay with this rubbish,” he wrote on X.

Many others on social media also criticised the makers for lowering the standard of music.

Meanwhile, another report from PTI stated that Raqueeb Alam yesterday distanced himself from the raging controversy over the sexually explicit lyrics of ‘Sarke Chunar’, saying the track was a translation from the original Kannada and he had initially refused to do it.

“I have not written these lyrics. They were written by the film’s director Prem in Kannada. When I was asked to write all this, I refused, saying such songs won’t work, and will be censored too. They told me to only literally translate the Kannada version and give it to them… they will set it to the song’s meter,” Alam told HT City, according to the PTI report.