In an Instagram post, Divya Khosla, director and wife of T-Series owner Bhushan Kumar, defended her husband and refuted the allegations made by singer Sonu Nigam. Refuting Nigam’s claims that Bhushan Kumar is maligning his name for speaking out against favouritism in the music industry, Divya Khosla claimed that T-Series had given chances to 1000s of ‘outsiders’, referring to people who were not a part of the Hindi film fraternity. Divya said that a total of 10 such outsiders were given the opportunity to work in her 2014 film, Yaariyan, and emphasised that four of them later went on to become ‘big names’ in the music industry.
“Sonu Nigam said that the (music) industry does not provide a clear direction to talented people. You are a legend, a great artist. How many people were given a chance by you? Several people must have come to you, seeking for help… You neither talked about giving someone else getting a chance nor introduced any talented singer in the industry… It is easy to speak on camera. But, the fact is that you never promoted anyone except for yourself. You are blaming us today. 97% of people who work in T-Series are outsiders,” she stated.
Divya claimed that Sonu Nigam used to sing for ₹5 in Delhi’s Ramlila when he was spotted by Gulshan Kumar, the founder of T-Series. According to her, Kumar booked tickets for the singer’s journey from Delhi to Mumbai. She said that he had promised to make Sonu Nigam, a renowned singer, and had given him ample opportunities.
Divya alleged that Sonu Nigam moved to a different music production house, following the murder of Gulshan Kumar in 1997, instead of helping out the T-Series family. She further claimed that an ‘ungrateful’ Sonu Nigam was reminding Bhushan Kumar of his conferred favours in the form of introducing the latter with prominent personalities such as Smita Thackeray and Balasaheb Thackeray or singing for films such as ‘Deewana’. “Sonu Nigam said that Bhushan had asked for his help to protect him from Abu Salem. There should be an investigation of the connection between Nigam and Salem. He has said about this in the video. Why else would Bhushan go to him?”, Divya questioned.
Cook ‘Sheru’ to the rescue
In a bizarre turn of events, Divya Khosla got her ‘cook Sheru’ to testify against Sonu Nigam. Sheru who has supposedly been working with the T-Series since 1988 said that Sonu Nigam was brought to Mumbai from Delhi by the founder Gulshan Kumar. “He (Sonu Nigam) used to come in a scooty and would sit at the reception and wait for the master for hours. Gulshan Kumar had promised to give him work, gave him chances in several successful films, created many albums. Whatever Sonu Nigam is today is due to Gulshan Kumar”, the cook concluded.
Divya Khosla dismisses #MeToo allegations on husband
She said that Sonu Nigam had indirectly referred to Bhushan Kumar as a ‘MeToo rapist’ by citing the case of a girl who had alleged sexual harassment against the owner of T-Series but had taken her complaint back, following the intervention of the ‘mafia’.
“#MeToo was a great movement that was initiated to remove the evil from society. But, the movement was hijacked by extortionists, blackmailers, and those who wanted to seek vengeance. We had received several calls from people who wanted to extort money from us. We contacted the police and it was found in the investigation that the cases were fabricated and amounted to blackmail. We neither filed a defamation suit nor approached the media. We did not want to shame the girl. You are taking advantage of this. Should I claim sexual harassment at your hands?”, Divya threatened Sonu Nigam.
She further stated that there was no meaning to the ‘#MeToo movement without any proof’ and claimed that her family had started receiving extortion calls from several male singers and girls, following Sonu Nigam’s video. “We provide work to 80% of singers. The remaining 20% may not get work due to several reasons. But, now they start levelling allegations against you. This has become the trend today.”
Received rape threats, claims Divya
In her video, Divya also claimed that she had been receiving rape threats from unknown callers while her husband and child had been threatened with death on social media. She stated, “Why should I tolerate threats to my child? And your campaign has not stopped. You are creating a close-knitted group of unemployed singers and misleading them into this publicity campaign to destroy T-Series and Bhushan Kumar.”
She further alleged, “Your wife has exposed you, Sonu Nigam, and that too in public! I did not want to make this video but I was in a state of dilemma.” Citing references from Hindu religious text, Bhagavad Gita, Divya cautioned, “The battleground is open and the war is on.”
Sonu Nigam reuploads her video
Taking a dig at Divya Khosla, Sonu Nigam re-uploaded her video on his Instagram account and wrote, “Presenting Divya Khosla Kumar.. I think she forgot to open her comments. Let’s help her in that.” As commenting is disabled in Divya’s video, he re-uploaded the video so that people can comment on it.
Dont mess with me, warns Sonu Nigam
Taking on the T-Series chief Bhushan Kumar, Nigam said that he had messed with the wrong person. He reiterated, “Now I have to take your name Bhushan. You are not alone. You have messed with the wrong person.” He alleged that Bhushan used to come to his house for help. He begged him to do Deewana album with T-series. Sonu Nigam also claimed that he also helped Bhushan to meet Smita Thackeray and Bal Thackeray.
In the video, Sonu Nigam made explosive allegations that Bhushan sought his help to save himself from gangster Abu Salem. “Remember Marina Kunwar? And the allegations she made? Why did she say this and why did she back out? Media knows. I have her video. If you mess with me, I will upload her video on my YouTube channel. Don’t mess with me,” he said.