Renowned playback singer Sonu Nigam has taken a dig at the recently concluded IIFA Awards for overlooking him in the Best Male Playback Singer category, despite his rendition of 'Mere Dholna 3.0' from 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3' being widely regarded as one of the finest performances of his celebrated career.
Sonu Nigam takes a dig at IIFA
The singer shared a screenshot of the nominations list, where his widely popular song ‘Mere Dholna 3.0’ from the film ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’ was missing from the nominations. He wrote in the caption read, “Thank you IIFA... After all, you were answerable to the Rajasthan bureaucracy.”
He used the lines from the same song, “Bhola bhaala tha, seedha sada tha, main toh naadan tha” as audio of the post.
Netizens react
Fans and music industry celebrities quickly flooded his post with comments, calling out the unfairness of the situation. Many expressed their support, stating that Sonu Nigam's talent transcends awards and that it is ultimately IIFA's loss.
Amaal Malik, who is the composer of the song, wrote, “Such is the world that we live in…. Mazaak banake rakh diya hai 😞😓.”
Jaan Kumar Sanu wrote, “Dada you are above these awards to be honest. We all love you ❤️.”
A user commented, “How unfair! This has to be the best song of 2025 in every way. Totally not fair!”
Another user wrote, “Your talent goes beyond awards, Sonu sir @sonunigamofficial No trophy can measure the love and respect you have earned. You are true living legend ❤️🎶”
“The awards don't deserve you,” commented another user.
"Soch kar dekhiye, kiska nuksan? For sure, not yours ❤️ Aap khud kisi award se kam nahi ," read another comment.
Sonu Nigam and Rajasthan political leadership row
His remarks come in the wake of an earlier controversy involving Rajasthan’s political leadership. In December last year, the singer openly criticized politicians after the then Chief Minister of Rajasthan left his performance midway. Expressing his disappointment in a video he shared online, Sonu recounted the incident: “Delegates came from all over the world to enhance the pride of Rajasthan. There was a CM, a youth minister, and a sports minister. There were a lot of people. I could not see all of them in the dark. There were a lot of people.”
He further added, “In the middle of the show, I saw that the CM and the rest of the people left. As soon as they left, all the delegates also left. I have a request to all politicians, if you do not respect your artists, then what will the people outside do?”
The acclaimed singer, who has long been vocal about the challenges faced by artists in the industry, labeled the incident as an insult to ‘Goddess Saraswati’ and ‘art’ itself.