Supporting his cousin and MNS chief Raj Thackeray’s argument, Pankaj Gupte, who is a musician, took
a dig at veteran singer Asha Bhosle for judging a show with Pakistani artistes.
Mr Gupte, who has earlier worked with Ms Bhosle, said that the singer should not have taken up the show and if she has, she should have stayed away from reacting to Mr Thackeray’s comments.
He also criticised the entertainment channels saying that they deliberately invite Pakistanis, who they think would create controversy and earn them TRPs.
“What wrong has he (Raj) said? Is there a dearth of good artistes in India? Why should every time India invite them when there is no reciprocation from there?” said Mr Gupte.
On Ms Bhosle being the judge on the show, he said, “Ashaji is like God to me and I have recorded tracks with her. But she should have refrained from being on such a show. It does not suit her stature and if she is indeed participating, she should have behaved like an artiste and stayed away from politics.”
Mr Gupte went on to say that Mr Thackeray’s father, Shrikant who was a music director never
discriminated against Muslim artistes and was in fact fond of them. “Shrikantji used to tell
me to take inspiration from Zakir Hussain as I used to play the tabla. In most of his recordings he would have mandolin player Sajjad Hussain and his sons Mustafa and Noor. The issue now is about Pakistanis and how they should not be invited here,” he said.
When asked why he had not taken up politics given his political lineage, Mr Gupte said, “We artistes are very moody which is not good for politics. If someone asks me to sing when I am in the mood, I will sing 10 songs but I won’t if I am not in the right frame of mind. I am happy in my space.”