Actor-dancer Nora Fatehi has finally broken her silence after her controversial song Sarke Chunar Teri was officially banned, with Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw confirming the action.
In a detailed Instagram video, Nora addressed the backlash, clarified her role in the project, and distanced herself from the final version that sparked outrage.
Opening her statement, Nora said, “Hi guys, I just want to come on here to discuss this controversy regarding the song. First of all, I'm in the middle of grieving a loss of one of my closest friends, and I'm also in the middle of nowhere with no network, so I haven't been able to see what's going on. But I've gotten some updates today because I got a little bit of network, so I do want to clarify a couple of things. I'm going to make sure this is not a very long video, but hear me out, okay?”
She went on to explain that the song was originally shot years ago in a completely different context. “One, I shot this song three years ago in a language called Kannada, okay? Which is a part of a different industry called Sandalwood, okay? And when I shot this song three years ago, I said yes to it because it was a part of a big film, it was with a big icon, Sanjay Dutt, who would say no to work with him? He's such an icon. And it was a remake, at least that's what I thought, of Nayak Nahi Khalnayak Hu Main, which is also a very iconic song.”
Highlighting the language barrier, Nora stressed that she depended entirely on the filmmakers for understanding the content. “When I'm on set shooting for this song, I'm relying on the filmmakers to translate the song, and that is what I go by, okay? When they're translating the song, nothing seemed inappropriate or vulgar when they were translating the song to me. But then again, I don't understand Kannada, so I'm just relying with whatever they're telling me.”
She then directly addressed the Hindi version that led to the controversy.
“Whatever they've done right now, which is creating a Hindi version and dubbing the voice in Hindi and having those lyrics, which are very inappropriate, I had no idea about that. They didn't take any approvals, they didn't take any permission from me.”
Nora also revealed that she had expressed concerns even before the backlash went public. “When I was invited for the launch at the event, I sat there and I saw the Kannada version, which first of all, I had a major issue with because they didn't take any approvals from me when they created that lyrical version. They used very unflattering photos, and if anyone knows me, they know that I have to approve all my photos. They put this lyrical version without my approval and they put it out there.”
“Then they created an image of me and Sanjay Dutt, which was AI generated, which I'm already against AI, so I was already feeling really irritated at the event when I saw what I saw. I have to be respectful regardless. I'm in the presence of media, I'm in the presence of filmmakers, people who give me opportunities, so I have to carry myself in a certain way. However, internally, I was really conflicted with what I was seeing.”
According to Nora, the situation escalated when the Hindi version was played at the event. “Then they played the Hindi version. Now, when they played the Hindi version, I knew it was a wrap. I knew we were going to have issues because at least I understand Hindi. I told the director, this is not going to be okay. This is going to get a lot of backlash.”
She made it clear that she chose to step away from the project at that stage. “I disassociated myself with the project. As you can see, I didn't promote it at all. I again flagged it to the director. I said, my image and reputation is on the line.”
Speaking more broadly about the industry, Nora reflected on the limited control artists sometimes have. “Here's the thing. As artists, especially artists like me, we don't really have this backing. We're not nepo kids. We don't come with a certain power behind us. It's just us. We're just individuals and the audience which is behind us. We have little power. We have little control.”
At the same time, she acknowledged her positive experiences in Bollywood. “Thankfully, I've been lucky in Bollywood to work with a lot of people who have respected my opinion, who have respected my creative call on certain things, and who listen to me. I've been very lucky. However, there are certain places, certain industries, they don't listen. They don't care about my opinion.”
She credited public backlash for the eventual removal of the song. “Because of this backlash, it pushed them to remove these songs and I'm grateful for that.”
Nora also had a strong message for media coverage around such controversies. “Also, just a side note to the media and to the pages that are consistently talking about this situation. If it bothers you guys so much, then you need to hold the filmmakers and the people who create such such content accountable. You start using their name and images when such controversies arise. You start bombarding their name and images to the audience because then only will they have some sort of fear and they will feel some sort of accountability and some sort of responsibility when they create content.”
She emphasized that focusing only on artists is misplaced. “If you're only going to bombard the audience with just the artist's name and image, it's counterproductive because we don't have control of such scenarios. If you guys really really really want to find a solution, then you need to start holding the the filmmakers and the people behind the content accountable.”
Concluding her statement, Nora said, “On that note, I will be more careful and I will be more strict moving forward. I just want to say thank you for the backlash. Because of that, they've been able to take it down. Thank you.”
The controversy around Sarke Chunar Teri has now opened up a wider conversation about creative consent, artist accountability, and the responsibility of filmmakers in shaping content.
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