- Vishal Dadlani publicly apologised to Jasleen Royal over his Coldplay concert criticism
- The apology and hug occurred during an Indian Idol episode featuring Jasleen as a guest
- Vishal stated he admires Jasleen's work and regrets blaming organisers improperly
More than a year after criticising Jasleen Royal's opening act at Coldplay's India concert, composer-singer Vishal Dadlani has publicly apologised to her. The two shared a hug during the recording of an episode of Indian Idol, where Jasleen appeared as a guest.
A video from the interaction was shared by Jasleen's manager, Yash Sanjeev Badwe, on Instagram. While Jasleen was speaking with rapper Badshah, Vishal stepped in to address the controversy from January 2025.
He said, "Main Jasleen ko bahut time se janta hun aur pichle saal hamari ek controversy ho gayi thi (referring to the Coldplay incident). Maine kuch zyada bol diya ek masle mein aur mujhe bolna nahin chahiye tha kyunki I truly admire Jasleen's compositions. As a composer, hamare paas zyada female composers nahin hain. Galti mujhse ye hui ki organisers ko main kahin blame kar raha tha lekin bola maine galat tareeke se. [I've known Jasleen for a long time, and last year we got caught up in a controversy (referring to the Coldplay incident). I said more than I should have on the matter, and I shouldn't have said it because I truly admire Jasleen's compositions. As a composer, we don't have many female composers. My mistake was that I was actually trying to blame the organisers, but I expressed it in the wrong way.] I want to publicly apologise to you. It must be done."
Vishal Dadlani also made it clear that his comments were never meant to question Jasleen as an artiste.
He said, "Female composers hamare paas yahaan nahin hain and I am the last person to discourage someone who does such good work. You really write beautiful songs, maine sau dafa uske baad bhi kaha hai par koi chaapta nahin hai, koi bolta nahin hai. It was never my intention to diss you as an artiste. Agar wo hua hai mujhse, I genuinely want to apologise. And agar nahin, ye hua hai mujhse and I really want to apologise. [We don't have many female composers here, and I am the last person who would want to discourage someone doing such good work. You truly write beautiful songs. I've said that many times even after that incident, but no one prints it or talks about it. It was never my intention to disrespect you as an artiste. If that's what happened because of me, I genuinely want to apologise. And if it did happen, then I truly want to apologise.]"
Jasleen Royal accepted the apology and admitted that Vishal's earlier remarks had upset her because she always looked up to him.
"I always considered you as a mentor. I have called you with little-little things. So, it just felt like… I see you as a mentor and a friend, so it hurt me. But it's okay, we have our own journeys. That's really big of you," she said.
The two then hugged on stage, with Badshah calling it "It's such a beautiful moment."
What Vishal Dadlani Had Said
The apology comes after Vishal had reacted to Jasleen's performance before Coldplay's concert in India in January 2025. At the time, her act had received mixed reactions online, and Vishal had also criticised it on Instagram.
He had written, "I'm really sorry, but when you put a basic-to-bad singer in front of a large crowd on a large stage, all you're doing is showing more people that the individual can't really sing, and that sadly, systems within labels in India aren't geared towards really promoting the best we have… I've just seen some clips, and my gosh... How embarrassing! For the Country, the artiste, the public, as well as ‘the scene'."
