Abhijeet says SRK’s fellow stars called him ‘hakla’

In the 90s Abhijeet Bhattacharya lent his voice to Shah Rukh Khan’s songs like ‘Tumne Jo Maine Dekha’ from ‘Main Hoon Na,’ ‘Tauba Tumhare Ishare’ from ‘Chalte Chalte,’ ‘Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Mein’ from ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayege’ and many more. Though the singer-actor dou was never very close personally, their professional partnership gave Indian cinema some of the best and ever-green musical gems. However, since Abjijeet felt he wasn’t given his due credit for his efforts in the songs he sang for SRK, the two fell apart. Now, it has been 17 years since the two last came together. Reflecting on the same, Abhijeet Bhattacharya has mixed feelings. He is not angry but upset, he wanted Shah Rukh to offer an olive branch and to date feels like patching things up with him.
“I never abused him, there are so many people who did, some named their dog after him, his contemporaries. Then Farah Khan’s husband (Shirish Kunder) insulted him, they all then hugged it out. My problem is that I was expressing my pain,” Abhijeet said on a podcast with Shubhankar Mishra.
He added that he never expected an apology from Shah Rukh but he wanted him to take the first step. “Being a senior, age-wise, he could come and hug me, I wasn’t expecting an apology, but he could come and say, ‘chal yaar… (come on mate…)’, we’ll play together again. But people chose to (ignore me),” expressed Abhijeet.
As aforementioned he still wants things to turn better between the two of them. He said why wouldn’t he want to patch up, their voices are made for each other. He even went ahead to describe the relationship as that of a ‘husband and wife.’ “Husband and wife fight, and they’ll have to patch up, isn’t it? It is not out of obligation but it is for the good. We will create something good,” he said highlighting how his heart is longing for a peace treaty.

In the same conversation, when asked about his previous statement that Shah Rukh was a star only until he sang songs for him, Abhijeet clarified that his words were taken out of context. However, he very strongly mentioned that after him, none of SRK’s songs either with Udit Narayan or Kumar Shanu are at par with ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,’ ‘Darr’ and more
Last but not least, he commented that a lot of Shah Rukh’s contemporaries never considered him a star. They often referred to him as “hakla” (stammerer). “There were a few stars who told me, ‘hakle ke liye gaa raha hai na tu (You are singing for the stammerer)?’ I was like why are they feeling jealous, I got the award for my singing,” Abhijeet recalled.

With his recent statements, Abhijeet has made it quite clear that he still holds a special place in his heart for Shah Rukh Khan. Yes, they have their difference but if an olive branch would be extended, Abhijeet would not say no to it. He still feels that he and Shah Rukh can come together to create something magical for their fans.