Earlier this year, legendary singer Udit Narayan faced a lot of backlash for kissing a female fan during a concert, sparking a conversation about boundaries and consent involving public figures. The criticism intensified when old videos showing Udit kissing female singers like Shreya Ghoshal and Alka Yagnik resurfaced. Now, in an exclusive interview with SCREEN, his son and singer Aditya Narayan addresses the controversy for the first time. He revealed that the veteran singer has taken the concerns seriously and assured that such incidents won’t happen again.
When asked about his reaction to the kissing videos emerging on social media, Aditya said, “Internet is a strange thing. Social media is not a real place and what you see on social media is not the full picture. As public figures, we don’t have control over every single part of what is broadcast in the world.”
Aditya Narayan revealed that Udit Narayan initially struggled to understand the anger and backlash over his actions. “Pehle toh pitaaji ko samajh mein nahi aaya ki logon ko naraazgi kis baat ki hai. He comes from a different time and perspective. There was an era when fans used to throw their undergarments on the artiste on stage. You can’t do that anymore. Similarly, he comes from a time when a fan gives you love, you don’t consider it incorrect when giving that love back,” he stated.
The singer explained the concept of “consent” to his father, and also mentioned how the situation would have been otherwise if it was someone as young as him. “But now, thankfully, we live in a day and age when consent is a thing. He had no idea about it. It is a wonderful, but fairly new development. There are age appropriate terms also now. Shayad mein karta aur koi 32 saal ki ladki hoti, toh itni badi baat nahi hoti. He is now a respected senior member of the music fraternity and his fans range from 6 to 60. So, it depends on who it’s happening with,” Aditya said.
Udit Narayan at a recent event.
He added, “He wasn’t aware. He doesn’t come from that generation. He is someone who would never want to be inappropriate. Uske lie main hu, jab unko samajh nahi aata hai toh main samjhaata hu. Now, he is aware that there is something called consent. Maine unko ek hi cheez samjhaayi ki public figure aap hain. How someone expresses their love to you will never become news, how you express that love back is very important because you are a role model.”
‘You cannot rob a public figure of their right to make mistakes’
However, the “Tattad Tattad” singer shared that Udit Narayan was willing to evolve with the changing time. “The amazing part about him is that he is always willing to learn. He understood when I explained it to him. People don’t realise sometimes ki vo kisko kya bolrahe hain. He is 70 years old; he comes from a different time. I am not defending him, but we keep evolving. This is one area where there was a lack of evolution,” he said.
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“Now that it has happened, he is aware of it. You cannot rob a public figure of their right to make mistakes and learn from them. Nobody is perfect. You should just accept them and keep learning. We are simple people,” Aditya concluded.
On the work front, Aditya Narayan recently launched his album Saansein with its first track “Bana Le Tera”.
