On the eve of Republic Day 2025, the Padma Awards, which represent the highest civilian honor in the country, were granted to 139 individuals. This group includes seven recipients of the Padma Vibhushan, 19 awardees of the Padma Bhushan, and 113 Padma Shri honorees.
While the awardees included many big times singing artists, it still skipped some of the beatiful vocal chords, despite having a big time career in music. National award winner Sonu Nigam, reacted on the same via social media. Recently, the singer expressed his disappointment regarding the jury’s decision to overlook many distinguished artists, including iconic singers like Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Alka Yagnik, Shreya Ghoshal, and Sunidhi Chauhan. He lamented on not choosing these iconic voices to reward them with the most prestigious award like Padma Shri.
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Sonu Nigam shared a video on his Instagram, where he recorded himself while expressing his thoughts. He said that many talented singers, such as Mohammad Rafi sahab and Kishore Kumar have been ignored by the people for considering them as Padma Shri honoraries. Meanwhile, he also highlighted that other mind-blowing stars like Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal and Alka Yagnik have also never received the reward they deserved and have been unjustly overlooked. While Sonu Nigam reacted bluntly on the awardees’ list ignoring these legendary singers, he also asked people to comment down the names of other artists who have not received their due so far.
This year, Sharda Sinha, widely recognized as Swar Kokila from Bihar, will receive the Padma Vibhushan posthumously, while singer Arijit Singh is set to be awarded the Padma Shri. Reacting to Sonu Nigam’s take on this, Arijit Singh fans have voiced out their aggression over him. People said that Sonu is merely being jealous because Arijit has been chosen for the Padma Shri 2025.
A fan wrote, “I’m not saying that you’re wrong but itne dino tak yaad nahi aaya? Arijit ko mila tab yaad aaya? You’re a respected artiste; jealousy doesn’t suit you.” Another person took it to Sonu Nigam’s comment saying, “Though I totally agree… But the disrespect towards Arijit. He’s the most followed artist on Spotify and has left no stone unturned. Literally the most sorted and loved person. Definitely didn’t expect it from you.” There were many long-penned notes defending Arijit Singh’s victory, even though the singer nowhere mentioned the name. Fans said they could sense jealousy for Arijit Singh is receiving the award.