Now, prominent Uttarakhand singer slams govt for Kher teleserial splurge

DEHRADUN: Spending crores of rupees to make a teleserial on Kedarnath shrine by Kailash Kher has drawn flak from the state’s prominent singer, Narendra Singh Negi, whose Garhwali songs have, in the past, shaken governments in Uttarakhand. Last year, the state government had roped in Kher for making the teleserial on Kedarnath and for which, according to an RTI reply, Rs 3.66 crore has already been paid from the disaster relief funds of Rudraprayag district in February 2016.
“I am hurt to know that a small state like ours has spent crores of rupees on making a teleserial on Kedarnath from the disaster rehabilitation funds. No local or other artistes would have asked for money for composing music or making a teleserial on Kedarnath,” said Negi. In Uttarakhand, Negi’s songs, filled with political satire, had set the mood of the people against state governments, ahead of assembly elections, on at least two occasions.
Negi pointed out that local artistes would have been more effective at popularising Uttarakhand’s culture, music, instruments and the overall narrative. Reacting to reports of multi-crore payments made to Kher’s firm, the famous lyricist Prasoon Joshi said, “I am unaware of the financial aspects of the project. I have done a voiceover in the project and not charged a penny because I am an Uttarakhandi, lived in Pauri Garhwal and I got associated with the project because it was on Kedarnath and my home state.”
The eleven-hour long teleserial is reported to have voiceovers and songs sung by a number of Bollywood celebrities including superstar Amitabh Bachchan, singers Shaan, Sonu Nigam, Suresh Wadkar, Shreya Ghoshal and Anup Jalota as well as contribution from actors like Anupam Kher and Hema Malini. A close aide of Kailash Kher said that the singer had been “awarded the project by the state government through an open tender and it has been completed as per the contractual conditions agreed upon last year”.
In the hill state’s capital, the alleged multi-crores rupee splurge on the teleserial has kicked off a political storm as the opposition party is demanding a probe into the matter starting from the tendering to the multiple payments made to Kailash’s firm in Mumbai. “The teleserial has been made at an exorbitant price paid from the disaster rehabilitation fund given by the central government and the CDs must be gathering dust in the office of the CM in Dehradun,” alleged BJP leader Ajender Ajay, based in Rudraprayag.