Khaali Peeli director says Beyonce Sharma Jayegi not racist: ‘Goriya has been used in Indian songs to address a girl’ – bollywood

Khaali Peeli director Maqbool Khan has finally opened up about the use of the word ‘Goriya’ in the song Beyonce Sharma Jayegi, which invited wrath of music lovers and social media users for its alleged racism. The song has been picturised on lead actors Ishaan Khatter and Ananya Panday and has been penned by Kumaar.

Maqbool said, “First, without any hesitation or excuses we want to apologise to anyone offended. We assure you that the lyric in question was never intended racially. In fact, the term ‘goriya’ 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 the literal manner. Also the comparison with Beyonce is simply meant to be a street-smart guy flattering a girl who is trying to impress that her dancing/performance is worth comparing to even Beyonce who we all see as the final word, the epitome of talent, beauty, performance, style and attitude. We are all huge fans, and there was never any question of disrespect.”

Lyricist Kumaar added further, “Goriya as a word has been used in many Hindi songs earlier. Our idea was to simply use a synonym to ‘girl’. There is no derogation intended – we revere beauty of global celebrity Beyoncé and don’t mean to hurt any of her fans.”

Beyonce Sharma Jayegi has been composed by musical duo Vishal and Shekhar and sung by Nakash Aziz and Neeti Mohan. The dance number has been choreographed by Bosco Caesar and shot within a span of three days against the backdrop of a funfair.

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Khaali Peeli is produced by Himanshu Kishan Mehra, Ali Abbas Zafar and Zee Studios. It’s said to be the first ever Bollywood film to have a simultaneous multi-format release on October 2. It would release on pay-per-view platform Zee Plex.

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