Singer Lucky Ali has lashed out at Javed Akhtar after a video of the veteran lyricist and screenwriter asking Hindus 'not to become like Muslims' went viral on social media.
How old the video was or from which event could not be immediately determined.
Lucky Ali commented on an X post which shared the video of Javed Akhtar from an event where he was speaking about the freedom of speech and democracy in today's India.
A screenshot of Lucky Ali's comment on Javed Akhtar's video.
"Don't become like Javed Akhtar, never original and ugly as f***..." the singer wrote.
Lucky Ali's comment was in response to Javed Akhtar's remarks at the event where he spoke about the the epic "Yunki ye kaun bola" scene from 1975's Sholay.
"In Sholay, there was a scene where Dharmendra hides behind Shiv ji's murti and speaks, and Hema Malini (thinks) Shiv ji is talking to her. Is it possible to have a scene like that today? No, I will not write a scene (like this today). Were there no Hindus in 1975 (when Sholay released)? Were there no dharmic people? There were.
"As a matter of fact, I'm on record, I'm not saying it right here. Raju Hirani and I were in Pune in front of a big audience and I said 'Don't become like Muslims. Make them like yourself. You are becoming like Muslims'. It's a tragedy," Javed Akhtar says in the clip.
Javed Akhtar has often schooled trolls many a time for their communal and hateful remarks on social media.
Last month, a cultural event in Kolkata was postponed after Muslim outfit Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind raised objections over Javed Akhtar serving as its chief guest.
In an interview with NDTV, Javed Akhtar had responded to the controversy, saying he constantly gets hate from both Hindu and Muslim fundamentalists.
"Some of them call me a jihadi and that I should migrate to Pakistan. Some say I'm a kaafir and I will 100% go to hell and I should change my name, that I don't have the right to have a Muslim sounding name.
"In the last 20-25 years, Mumbai Police has offered me protection at least four times on their own. I didn't ask for it. But they raised a threat perception, so they offered protection to me. Three out of four times it was because of some Muslim organisations or people and one time from the other side. This kind of reaction is nothing new for me," the screenwriter-poet had said.
Lucky Ali has also been vocal about his faith. In 2023, the singer received backlash after he claimed the word "Brahman" was derived from "Abram". He later deleted the post and issued an apology to "Hindu brothers and sisters" on social media, saying he didn't intend to "cause distress or anger" with his comments.
Also Read | Javed Akhtar Reacts To Kolkata Event Postponing: "Muslims Call Me Kaafir, Hindus Ask Me To Go To Pakistan"