Sona Mohapatra says Rekha gave boost to sad Indian Idol 12, attacks makers for sheltering MeToo accused Anu Malik

Sona Mohapatra, who expressed her delight at seeing veteran Bollywood Rekha gracing the Indian Idol 12 show, also hit out at the show makers for sheltering MeToo accused Anu Malik and celebrating his return to the singing reality show recently.

Photo courtesy: Instagram

New Delhi: After Ramya Krishnan uploaded an emotional video of watching evergreen Bollywood actress Rekha performing on singing reality show 'Indian Idol 12', now Sona Mohapatra also expressed her happiness on seeing the 'Silsila' actress' appearance on the show. However, she reiterated her disappointment with the show makers for sheltering music composer Anu Malik, who was accused of sexual harassment during India's MeToo movement.

In her tweet, Sona wrote, "Happy to see #Rekha , a fine artist & sparkling woman giving a boost to a sad music reality show on social media. Why sad?What would U call a show that kept a known serial sexual predator & pervert on its payroll year after year?Anu Malik.Doesn’t even deserve a hashtag, #India."

Replying to her tweet, one of the users wrote how the show had treated Anu Malik's recent return on 'Indian Idol 12' as a guest. "They called him back and glorified him as a guest this year. He sang 'Ladki dekhi mooh se seeti Baji haath se taali" and I watched and squirmed," the user wrote. 

Sona replied to tweet writing, "Basically they called Anu Malik on the sad show & made him sing this to instigate good people to protest & give the channel free publicity & promotions. ‘Sexual perversion & perverts’ are a marketing tool for marketeer tools I’ve figured."

For the unversed, Anu Malik was removed as the jury panel of 'Indian Idol' after he was accused of sexual harassment and misconduct. He, however, was hired back as one of the judges during the 11th season of the singing reality show. 

The 12th season of 'Indian Idol' is judged by Vishal Dadlani, Himesh Reshammiya and Neha Kakkar and hosted by Aditya Narayan.