Sonakshi singing with Justin is a ‘wrong message’: Kailash

Singer-composer Kailash Kher (right) says that the choice of actor Sonakshi Sinha (inset) for a performance at pop star Justin Bieber’s first India concert gave out a very wrong message internationally. An acclaimed Indian singer should’ve been chosen for this, he feels.

“I read somewhere that Canadian singer Justin Bieber is coming to India, and Sonakshi will perform at the gig. The news was cute, but quite a lie... They (people abroad) will think that Sonakshi must be a big singer in India. And then she’ll get concert offers from Canada, and then probably Sonakshi will laugh them off, saying, ‘I am not a singer, but an actor,’” says Kher. Sonakshi does have some musical association, however — she made her debut as a singer in 2015 with the single Ishqholic, and has also judged the TV singing contest Indian Idol Junior.

Kher says, “Whenever any singer from the West comes to India, we get an actor on board to match their level. We don’t get a singer for another singer, but an actor. Event managers and producers of the entertainment industry are so scared.” He adds, “The organisers don’t consider the crowd’s sensibilities (while deciding on the acts in a live gig), and only go for a popular face. Often actors just come and say, ‘It is nice to be here.’”

Sonakshi is one of the planned opening acts at the highly anticipated gig, to be held at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on May 10.