Music maestro Bhupen Hazarika and his companion Kalpana Lajmi are mired in a blazing controversy in Assam after images of the 85-year-old ailing singer being taken in a chair to the banks of the Brahmaputra river for a commercial shoot were carried in the local media. “Bhupen Hazarika has been reduced to a commercial commodity and we are extremely saddened to see the images on TV and in newspapers of our elder brother being lifted by six people with bamboo poles placed on the side of the chair,” Bhupen Hazarika’s younger brother Nripen said. The legendary singer and Dadasaheb Phalke award winner Monday acted in a commercial for a local cement brand. The entire shoot lasted for about three hours on the river bank near Chandrapur in Guwahati. “As ardent fans and well-wishers we went to the shooting site to seek his blessings, but were rebuked and literally pushed by Kalpana Lajmi and other crew members of the shooting unit,” said Dwijen Kalita, a community leader in Chandrapur area.