Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 25, 2016)
Mirror (February 16) had reported that his rift with Zee resulted in Sonu Nigam being replaced by Nakash Aziz and Javed Ali in a song, "Ishq Ki Baarish", which he had recorded for Ishq Forever after Zee Music bought the film's music rights. A repeat was on the cards when Suhaib Ilyasi, who was in a negotiation with the music label for his film, Ghar Wapsi, was told to get the singer's voice dubbed in the song "Kita Pyaara Yeh Bandhan Hai". He refused.
"I met the Zee management 20 days ago and they loved all the four songs and were happy to come on board. Their only demand was that I should replace Sonu. I turned it down because it is ethically wrong," he reasons.
The romantic track filmed on his lead pair, Harsh Nagar and Srishti Gautam, was recorded four months ago in a suburban studio. Sonu loved the RayNBrotherhood composition and sang it. "I ran into Salman Khan at the studio after the recording. He had met Sonu a few minutes before and he'd been raving about the song so much that he too wanted to hear the track," reminisces the former host of the crime show India's Most Wanted.
Have they discussed the incident? "No, I didn't want to hurt Sonu but I'm told he is aware of this issue," says Ilyasi, whose film is about a couple and how they adjust to new cultures, societies and different upbringings.