Shreya Ghoshal hints she turned down Kareena Kapoor’s ‘Fevicol Se’ after singing ‘Chikni Chameli’: ‘Too much objectification’

“‘Chicken bana ke kha le. Ye kar ke lipat le.’ So, I cannot say these words. They make me red on the face. So, there have been moments which I’ve folded hands and sneaked out of,” added Shreya on the Raj Shamani podcast. The song, which she referred to, might be “Fevicol Se” from Arabaaz Khan’s 2012 cop comedy Dabangg 2. Filmed on Kareena Kapoor and Salman Khan, it was composed by Sajid-Wajid and eventually sung by Mamta Sharma.

Shreya defended singing “Chikni Chameli” as it also has a lot of “artistry” in it. “The version that came out is far more toned down than what it originally was. It’s wordplay. It’s not on the face that do something with me,” argued Shreya. She also admitted that she didn’t grasp the complete context of the song back then, but has become more conscious now.

“If I sing this tomorrow and it becomes a hit, I’d have to sing it everywhere where there are small children who’d be singing it or dancing to it in front of me, which I can’t see. Every song in the West is practically like this. In India, we have the A certification in films, which means you can watch the film only when you’re of that age (18+). But that’s not the case with songs. Everybody listens to songs. So, it depends on your choice,” added Shreya.

She also clarified that she continues to own “Chikni Chameli” as her song. “There were good and bad things about that song. The bad thing was this. The good thing was I had the chance to come out of my shell. I had some 12 cups of coffee and had a blast on that song. It was not only a fun song, but also a difficult song. It’s not in my nature to sing these kinds of songs. It let me find a new voice. That was the musical side of it. But the repercussion of having sung a song which has such lyrics was it ended up becoming one song I’d always have to live with it because there’ll be kids in the audience also singing it. I just close my eyes now. But I wouldn’t do more such songs, that much I know,” said Shreya.

“Chikni Chameli”, filmed on Katrina Kaif, is from Karan Malhotra’s 2012 action thriller Agneepath. Last year, in a chat with Lily Singh, Shreya admitted she’s become conscious of singing similar songs now. “There is a very fine line between being sensual, sexy, and being outright objectified, or objectifying women in general. The reason I’ve become more conscious of this over time is that I see little girls singing these songs without understanding their meaning,” she said, adding, “I feel very embarrassed. A little girl, just five or six years old, singing those lyrics—it doesn’t sound good.”

Also Read: Taapsee Pannu reveals male actors have refused to work with her, says people spread rumours that she is ‘difficult to work with’

She also pointed out that had the lyrics, which were penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya, been written by a woman, they’d have been more graceful. “Films and music have a huge impact on people’s lives, and any blockbuster song or film becomes part of history. I don’t want to be part of that kind of history,” she added.