Bollywood Film Catches Flak For ‘Racist’ Song Insulting Beyoncé’s Natural Beauty
Image via DFree / Shutterstock.com
A track from a Bollywood film, Khaali Peeli, has been rewritten after social media users accused it of being racist.
The original lyric of the song, titled Beyoncé Sharma Jayegi, appeared to glorify pale skin and made an inappropriate reference to singer Beyoncé.
The offending line, “Oh tujhe dekh ke goriya, Beyoncé sharma jayegi,” translates to, “Beyoncé will feel insecure after seeing you, fair-skinned lady.”
Social media users were quick to criticize the anthem. “Beyoncé didn’t make lemonade album for this talentless rats to make a song about how this Ananya Pandey’s so-called white skin could make Beyoncé shy!” an angry user blasted on Twitter. “Might be the worse thing I’ve seen ever! I’d like to apologize to Beyoncé for this racist sexist hot mess,” another user tweeted.
The controversial melody also included sexist lines that include “gaudy women” with “lots of tantrums.”
In a statement, director Maqbool Khan explained that the lyrics “never intended racially,” and that the filmmakers were huge fans of Beyoncé. “The term ‘goriya’ (fair woman in Hindi) has been so often and traditionally used in Indian songs to address a girl, that it didn’t occur to any of us to interpret it in a literal manner,” he said.
The revised version of the song drops the controversial line and is now available on music streaming applications.
Oh Dear! #BeyonceSharmaJayegi
— Andy Kumar (@iAmVJAndy) September 7, 2020
Might be the worse thing I’ve seen ever! 🤮
I’d like to apologise to @Beyonce for this racist sexist hot mess. #BLM #mondaythoughts https://t.co/EXc1zmdHFe
Beyonce didn't make lemonade album ( that is about black power) for this talentless rats to make a song about how this ananya pandey's so-called white skin could make beyonce shy!
— Lorde Del Rey (@lordedellrey) September 7, 2020
Lmao the lyricist and the whole record label should be sued for this TRASH!
#BeyonceSharmaJayegi
#BOLLYWOOD is still propagating for light-toned skin in 2020 and such attitude has spawned a huge demand in India for whiteners and bleaching products? And Why will #BeyonceSharmaJayegi she is the one who featured brown south Asians in her music @iujjawaltrivedi #KhaaliPeeli https://t.co/QsMeAysi7e
— Drishti Kharbanda (@DrishtiKoffic) September 7, 2020
This is just blatantly ignoring the fact how they're glorifying fair skin (yet again) and then comparing it to Beyoncé (a black woman). This is RACIST.
— Rajvi Desai 💀 (@RajviDesai31) September 7, 2020
Y'all are embarrassing yourselves. TAKE 👏 THIS 👏 DOWN 👏 AND👏 APOLOGIZE 👏 #BeyonceSharmaJayegi https://t.co/eyVv6xsakP
#BeyonceSharmaJaayegi
— Chaos. (@nayeemiqbal_) September 7, 2020
Bollywood hitting new levels of low after hitting rock bottom.
Using obnoxious lyrics, skin color and comparing her with #Beyonce . Utter disappointment again. pic.twitter.com/FQW7HVd2pD
[via CNN, cover image via DFree / Shutterstock.com]
