Abhijeet Bhattacharya does not mince words.
Performing live in Chhattisgarh, the veteran playback singer halted his concert to launch a blistering attack against artists who mime on stage — wading squarely into the storm surrounding Daler Mehndi's derailed Uttarakhand show. Addressing the crowd between tracks, Abhijeet broke industry ranks to defend Uttarakhand State Minister Subodh Uniyal, who recently interrupted Mehndi's set at the Siddhpeeth Maa Kunjapuri Tourism and Development Fair after accusing the Punjabi pop singer of being intoxicated and lip-syncing.
"A minister came onto the stage and said exactly that," Abhijeet told the audience. "Honestly, he spoke the truth. He said, 'You are not singing, you can barely stand, and you are not really performing live.' He spoke the truth, but he ended up becoming the villain in the eyes of many. Yet this is something that happens on stages everywhere."
The confrontation erupted during Navratri in Uttarakhand when Uniyal cut Mehndi's religious fair performance short, triggering fierce arguments across the music industry. In the aftermath, pop artist Mika Singh leapt to his elder brother's defense, arguing that senior artists deserve dignity and demanding respect from political authorities. Uniyal dismissed the blowback entirely, denying calls to tender an apology and asking publicly what crime he had committed by calling out an artist on stage.
Abhijeet offered zero solidarity to his peers. To him, taking a paycheck to mime over a pre-recorded backing track amounts to outright deceit.
"I request all of you, especially here in Chhattisgarh, not to let this happen," Abhijeet said, gesturing toward his instrumentalists. "No matter how I sing, whether I sing badly, whether my voice is strained, whether I get tired, or whether I sing off-key, whatever I do, I will sing live. You have spent your hard-earned money and invited me here. Behind this event lies the hard work of the administration and the department. I promise that I will never cheat you. I will never simply move my lips in the name of singing."
Having drawn a sharp battle line between raw vocal craft and canned stage spectacles, the singer closed his set with an explicit appeal to ticket-buyers: if an artist refuses to sing live into the microphone, do not let them take the stage.