Sarke Chunar controversy: CBFC says makers didn’t seek clearance, singer apologises; here’s everything that happened

Here’s a look at everything that happened in the aftermath of the controversy.

Sarke Chunar singer apologises, says corrected version of song to be out soon

Singer Mangli apologised to the audience in her Instagram post and wrote, “Out of respect for public sentiment, the song has been removed from all platforms. I sincerely apologise to each and every one of you for the unintended mistake. It was never meant to hurt anyone’s sentiments, and we truly regret the oversight.”

She revealed that the new version of the song, with corrected lyrics, will be uploaded on Wednesday evening. She said, “The corrected version of the lyrics has now been updated, and the revised version of the song will be released today evening. We assure you that such a situation will not arise again. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the makers of the film and music director Arjun Janya sir, for whom I have the highest regard.”

 

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A post shared by Mangli 🎙️ (@iammangli)

Didn’t seek clearance: CBFC

The Central Board of Film Certification also issued a statement on Wednesday, stating how the makers released the song without proper certification from the board.

A statement from CBFC, as reported by ANI, read, “This is to clearly state that CBFC has not received any application seeking certification for the song Sarke Chunar Teri Sarke from KD: The Devil Film. It is to be noted clearly that content on digital platforms is not certified by CBFC. There is often confusion about this and CBFC is unnecessarily dragged into matters that are not connected. CBFC is a responsible and responsive body with committed members who take portrayal of women in cinema sensitively and have, with sincere effort, shifted the needle from controversy to constructive dialogue. In the case of this particular song all queries should be directed to the platform and the makers of the song.”

“This is to clearly state that CBFC has not received any application seeking certification for the song” Sarke Chunar Teri Sarke” from KD: The Devil Film. It is to be noted clearly that content on digital platforms is not certified by CBFC. There is often confusion about this and…

— ANI (@ANI) March 18, 2026

Nora Fatehi alleges she was ‘misled’

On Wednesday, Nora responded to the controversy for the first time. She shared a video in which she alleged that she was misled by the makers, who didn’t inform her about the lyrics of the song’s Hindi version during shooting. She said, “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 on whatever they’re telling me. 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.”

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Nora shared that she heard the Hindi version only at the music launch and warned the filmmaker. She said, “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.’ I disassociated myself with the project. As you can see, I didn’t promote it at all. I again flagged it to the director and I said, ‘My image and reputation is on the line’.”

 

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Freedom of Speech cannot be absolute: Union Information and Broadcasting Minister

Addressing the issue in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw confirmed that the song was banned. She said, “A ban has been imposed on the song. We must operate according to the reasonable restrictions under the Freedom of Speech. Freedom of Speech cannot be absolute, it has to be in the context of the society and culture.”

#WATCH | Speaking in Lok Sabha, on the ban on Bollywood film song ‘Sarke Chunariya’, Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Ashwini Vaishnaw says,” A ban has been imposed on the song. We must operate according to the reasonable restrictions under the Freedom of Speech.… pic.twitter.com/TMSBaiLVke

— ANI (@ANI) March 18, 2026

NHRC issued notice; AICWA sought ban

Earlier, the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) had issued a notice over the song’s objectionable content, after which the song was taken down from social media. Advocate Vineet Jindal had also filed a complaint with the CBFC and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, calling the song “highly vulgar, sexually suggestive, and obscene” and seeking legal action. On the other hand, cine body All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA) demanded an official ban on it.

Lyricist blames director, says he only translated the song

Meanwhile, lyricist Raqueeb Alam, who has been credited for writing the lyrics of the song in question, reacted to the backlash. Speaking to HT City, he claimed that the lyrics of the song were written by the film’s director Prem in Kannada and he only translated them. “These lyrics were not written by me; they were originally written by director Prem in Kannada. When I was asked to write this, I refused, saying such songs won’t work and would be censored. But they told me to simply translate the Kannada version and give it to them, and they would set it to the song’s meter.”

“In the end, they reveal that the song is about an alcohol bottle, but before that, everything feels very vulgar. I had refused to write it. Why would I need to write such songs? When I write good songs, people don’t notice. I have written ‘Chikri Chikri’ in Hindi for Ram Charan’s upcoming film Peddi, and all the Hindi songs of Pushpa were written by me. I feel humiliated because of Sarke Chunar,” he added.

Director’s wife defends track

Prem’s wife, former actor Rakshita, questioned the selective outrage against the song. A part of her note read, “My stand on whether I am for it or against it doesn’t matter, when songs like Peelings, Dreamum Wakeupum, like Choli ke Peeche or 100s like these came out it seemed fine. When an entire film came out talking about how the actors just spoke about have sexual intercourse throughout the film it seemed fine, but one song creates massive news. Still not justifying, just asking so I can understand this.”