Mumbai, October 23, 2025: Indian singer and songwriter Lucky Ali has apologised after publicly criticising veteran poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar over a resurfaced video in which Akhtar made controversial remarks about religious extremism.
The video, originally from an India Film Project (IFP) interview recorded a year ago, recently went viral online for unknown reasons. In it, the 80-year-old lyricist refers to his classic film Sholay to illustrate how societal sensitivities have changed over time.
“I wrote a film — Sholay. There was a scene where Dharmendra hides behind Shiv ji’s idol and speaks from that place. Hema Malini thinks Shiv ji is talking to her. Is it possible to have a scene like that today? No,” Akhtar said.
He then added, “Raju Hirani and I were in Pune in front of a big audience, and I said, ‘Don’t become like Muslims. Make them like yourself. You are becoming like Muslims. It’s a tragedy.’”
The remarks drew sharp reactions online, including from Lucky Ali, who commented on an X post sharing the clip:
“Don’t become like Javed Akhtar, never original and ugly as f***.”
However, the O Sanam singer later apologised, clarifying that his words were miscommunicated. In a follow-up post, he wrote:
“What I meant was that arrogance is ugly… it was a mistaken communique on my part… monsters may have feelings too and I apologise if I hurt anyone’s monstrosity.”
The exchange has reignited debate over religious sensitivities, artistic freedom, and the limits of public expression in India’s cultural discourse.
