Abhijeet Bhattacharya slams AR Rahman’s lack of punctuality ‘in the name of creativity’: If you record at 3:33 am…

Abhijeet on Rahman

Abhijeet and Rahman have collaborated for only one song – Ae Nazneen Suno Na from Kathir’s 1999 romantic drama Dil Hi Dil Mein, starring Sonali Bendre and Kunal Singh. While the film tanked, the song became quite a hit. Abhijeet recalled that he recorded the song at the peak of his career. But he had to wait for hours at the hotel which Rahman had called him to.

“I decided that I can’t keep waiting, and that we could record in the morning. At 2 am, I get a call summoning me to the studio. Am I crazy? I said that I was asleep. I went in the morning, but he was not there. They don’t have the habit of working at regular hours. I’m used to working in a systematic manner. Now, in the name of creativity, if you say that you will record at 3:33 am, I don’t get it,” said Abhijeet.

Abhijeet also revealed that while Rahman didn’t turn up for the recording eventually, he sent an assistant instead. The assistant instead that Abhijeet sang although the singer had a cold because of the excessive air conditioning in the recording room. “I kept asking for Rahman, but didn’t get a firm answer. An artiste doesn’t become big or small by doing these things… I was told that I should have waited for him and left later. But I told them that I had prior commitments,” added Abhijeet.

Abhijeet on Shah Rukh Khan

Abhijeet previously took a shot at actor Shah Rukh Khan, for whom he has sung multiple memorable songs. He expressed his frustration over not being recognised for his vocals in the song Woh Ladki Jo from Abbas-Mustan’s 1999 thriller comedy Baadshah, filmed on Shah Rukh, years later after singer Dua Lipa sang a fan-made mashup of Levitating x Woh Ladki Jo at her concert in Mumbai last year. He argued that the actor took all the credit, while the singer doesn’t get his due.