Sona Mohapatra says Rekha's appearance gave boost to 'sad' 'Indian Idol 12', calls out show over Anu Malik row

After Ramya Krishnan uploaded an emotional video of watching Rekha performing on 'Indian Idol 12', now Sona Mohapatra also hailed Rekha's appearance in the singing reality show. However, in her tweet, Sona also restated her disappointment with the show for keeping 'sexual predator & pervert on its payroll', referring to 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."

April 5, 2021

Replying to Sona, a user also spoke about Anu Malik's recent return to the show as a guest. They wrote, "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," to which Sona replied saying, "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."

 April 5, 2021

 April 6, 2021

For the uninformed, Anu was removed from the jury panel of 'Indian Idol' after being accused of sexual misconduct. He was later hired back as one of the judges during the 11th season of the singing reality show. In 2021, the show currently is judged by Neha Kakkar, Vishal Dadlani, and Himesh Reshammiya.