Javed Ali Replaces Rahat Ali Khan

….“Yes We Have Replaced  Rahat Ali Khan With Javed,” Dabangg’s Favourite Song A Casualty Of Pakistan’s Aggression

One of  the  USPs  of  the  Dabangg franchise is the song  Tere mast mast do nain  and its  followup  Tere naina bade dagaabaz  in  the sequel, both sung by  Pakistan’s  much-respected Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.

But now with relations between  India and  Pakistan deteriorating rapidly and seeping down to cultural exchanges as  well,  the Dabangg producers Salman Khan and Arbaaz  Khan and  the song’s composers Sajid-Wajid have  no choice but to replace  the  original Pakistani  voice.

Speaking  exclusively to this writer  Wajid(one-half of the  composers Sajid-Wajid) reveals, “Yes we replaced  Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s voice with Javed Ali.”

 Javed who has sung some big chartbusters  in  recent times  like Kajra re(Bunty Aur Babli),  Nagada(Jab We Met) and  Ghalat baat hai(Main Tera Hero) was seen as a natural replacement for  the formidable original.

Says  composer Wajid, “This decision was  unanimous. When it comes  to the  country,  nothing  else matters. We  would be  willing to sacrifice even  our lives  to  protect  our country. How does sacrificing a  singer  matter? And we don’t even see  it a  sacrifice.”

Wajid wants to make  it clear that  this move to remove  Rahat Ali Khan is not to be taken personally. “We have the  highest regard  for him. He is an enormously talented singer. Many of his fans regard his  song in Dabangg and Dabangg 2 to be the  best  he has sung in India. And we’re proud of those songs. Lekin ab kya Karen? Halaat hi kuch aise gaye ho donon  mulk ke beech.We respect  individual talent from  every part of  the world. Bollywood welcomes talent from all over  the  world. In fact we are  often  hospitable at  the  cost of our own talent. But  now  things have changed. We  have to shut  all  doors and windows between the two  countries.We can’t  exempt cultural exchanges  from the ban  on Pakistan.”

Wajid  says Javed Ali has done  full justice  to the song in Dabangg 3.  “Javed is  a great voice. We  don’t need  talent from  anywhere  else.We have the some of the greatest talent here.”