Exclusive: Arijit Singh's plea heard, song to be retained in Salman's Sultan

Mumbai: Singer Arijit Singh’s well-intended but woefully mistimed public apology  to Salman Khan seems to have paid off. Salman, who doesn't forgive easily, had a change of heart this time around. Arijit’s song in 'Sultan' which the singer so desperately pleaded to be retained, will apparently not be dropped.

Salman's close friend Nikhil Dwivedi took Twitter to clarify that Salman did refuse to meet Arijit but the actor has never interfered in the choice of singers.

On May 24, Arijit posted a long public apology to Salman pleading with him to retain his song in the film. He wrote, “I have been trying to text you call you and do everything possible to tell you that you are mistaken about the fact that I insulted you. That night in the show, it was wrong time and wrong aura.”

Now what exactly is “that night”? It so happened that in 2014 Salman Khan had hosted a film awards function for the first time. There were many delays and the show went on for over six hours.

The same night, singer Mithoon was bullied by Salman Khan, and the latter had yelled at him asking him to leave the stage. But the singer gave it back to him, saying, ‘Main nahi dara sir’ after which Salman had embraced him.

However, with Arijit, it was not as smooth. When his name was announced as the best playback singer for 'Aashiqui', he came on stage to receive the award. Salman Khan asked the singer in jest, “Did you fall asleep?” Arijit replied, saying, “Aap logon ne sula diya.” (You guys made us fall sleep).

Not one to take a slant remark, Salman retorted, “It’s not our fault. If songs like these are played, people will fall asleep.” And he started singing, in a not-so-pleasant manner, the same song for which Arijit took the award. It has been a while since that night, but the singer seems to be yearning for Salman’s forgiveness.

A source close to the development reveals, “Arijit over-reacted as Salman’s anger was not directed at him. Salman was actually pissed off because Mithoon (the composer of the Aashiqui 2 numbers) had reacted rudely to Salman’s remarks.”

Apparently after Arjit’s public apology, the makers have decided to retain the song in 'Sultan'. The source further added, “It’s not been decided whether Salman will agree to lip-sync Arijit’s song. But the song won’t be removed from the soundtrack.”