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Sonu Sood reveals Salman Khan ‘stole’ Munni Badnaam from him in Dabangg: ‘I told them it’s wrong, I had only one song’

In a recent interview, Sonu Sood revealed that his Dabangg co-star Salman Khan stole the item track Munni Badnam from him, as it was originally supposed to feature only him.

Salman Khan stole Munni Badnaam from Sonu Sood in Dabangg

Salman Khan’s Dabangg emerged as one of the biggest hits of 2010, winning hearts and setting the scene for the cop franchise. Sonu Sood, who played the role of the antagonist Chhedi Singh, had earlier revealed that he initially turned down the offer but decided to give a nod later with certain conditions about the character and scenes. Now, in a recent interview, the actor also shared how Salman aka Chulbul Pandey ‘stole’ his item song Munni Badnaam from him, starring Malaika Arora.

During a conversation with Shubhankar Mishra on his YouTube channel, Sonu expressed that he was initially offered Chulbul Pandey’s role, which was later played by Salman. “Abhinav Kashyap (Dabangg’s director) was an assistant with Mani Ratnam earlier. He was a very good friend of mine. He told me that I am writing a cop story with the name Chulbul, we will do it together. I was also excited and told him that we will do it,” he said.

ALSO READ | Saiee Manjrekar says 37-year age gap with Salman Khan in Dabangg 3 didn’t affect her: ‘I was oblivious to that discussion’

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“When it happened, Arbaaz (Khan, Dabangg director with Kashyap) said that Salman wants to do the film. He narrated the film to him in Filmistan and Salman really liked the word Chulbul Pandey. So one fine day, Abhinav got a message saying ‘Yes’. Then got to know that it was Salman’s number and he has said yes to the role,” the actor further added.

Eventually, Sood was offered the antagonist’s role. “Abhinav asked me if I wanted to do Chhedi Singh’s role, it is a good one. I turned him down. Many people tried to convince me, including Arbaaz bhai, but I refused because I wasn’t able to understand that character. They kept searching, but weren’t getting the conviction from the inside that anyone else would be able to pull it off except me,” he shared.

ALSO READ | Sonu Sood says Shah Rukh Khan is extremely expressive but not Salman Khan: ‘If he likes you…’

Then, Sonu kept a few conditions, including alterations in the character and giving him an item song in the film – “They asked me, ‘What is the problem with the role, why aren’t you doing it?’ I asked Abhinav to twist the role a bit. Let’s write it more for the next 2-3 days, if I understand it, then I’ll do it. And, I need a song in the film. I asked them to include an item number. When Farah (Khan, choreographer-filmmaker) was making the song, I was conversing with her about including certain steps and how it should be a hit.”

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“Abhinav came with one good and one bad news. Good news about one of the scenes and bad one about Salman taking the song. I said, ‘It is my song, how will he come in between like that’. He said that he will do it through a raid scene. I told them that it’s wrong, I only had one song. But finally, whatever happened, happened or the good. People still remember the song,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sonu Sood’s latest project Fateh is showing in the theatres and has opened to decent box office numbers. On the other hand, Salman Khan is gearing up for his next film, Sikandar, which is scheduled for Eid 2025 release.

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ED arrests Biswal Tradelink’s MD in fake bank guarantee case, to confront him with Anil Ambani

53 min ago

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Partha Sarathi Biswal, managing director of Biswal Tradelink Private Limited (BTPL), in connection with an alleged fake bank guarantee case. “A probe has revealed that BTPL fraudulently arranged and submitted fake bank guarantees of Rs 68.2 crore along with forged State Bank of India (SBI) endorsements and fabricated confirmations for a Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) tender. For providing this bank guarantee, BTPL received Rs 5.40 crore from Reliance Power Limited,” an official said. Seven days after searching multiple locations in Mumbai linked to Anil Ambani, the ED has summoned the industrialist on August 5 to join the investigation into a money laundering case linked to a multi-crore bank loan fraud involving companies of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The ED has also issued a lookout circular (LOC) to prevent him from travelling abroad. BTPL was one of the companies where the ED recently conducted searches. Biswal's arrest was made on August 1 and he was produced before a Delhi Court, which sent him to their custody till August 6. "We are planning to confront him with Anil Ambani during questioning and will try to verify some facts," an official said. The ED has initiated its investigation against BTPL based on an FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Delhi Police, against the firm, its directors and others, for allegedly providing a fake bank guarantee which was submitted to SECI. “During the investigation, the ED has collected several pieces of evidence and they confirmed the use of fake documents in the name of certain banks and fake email IDs in the name of SBI. Probe has also revealed that BTPL, a small company incorporated in 2019, maintained multiple undisclosed bank accounts and carried out transactions disproportionate to its declared turnover. Many violations of the Companies Act are found, and no statutory records are found at registered addresses, such as books of accounts, shareholders’ registers, etc,” the official said. The probe also revealed that dummy directors were used solely to sign documents, and found at least seven undisclosed bank accounts of the company. “Proceeds of crime, of crores of rupees, have been traced to these accounts,” the official added. A spokesperson for Reliance Power said the ED case related to a bank guarantee. “The company and its subsidiaries acted bona fide and have been a victim of fraud, forgery and a conspiracy. The company has made due disclosure on this to the stock exchanges on November 7, 2024. A criminal complaint in this regard has already been lodged with the Economic Offence Wing of Delhi Police against the third party on October 16, 2024. The due process of law will follow," said the spokesperson.

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