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Veteran playback singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya has voiced his disapproval of Dua Lipa’s viral performance in Mumbai, where she crooned to the viral mashup ‘Levitating’ and Bollywood hit ‘Woh Ladki Jo’. The performance trended in India as Lipa’s tribute to Shah Rukh Khan.

While fans were quick to shower Khan with praise, the actor who starred in the original song from Badshah, Bhattacharya and his son expressed frustration over the lack of credit given to the song’s original creators — Bhattacharya himself, composer Anu Malik, and lyricist Javed Akhtar.

In a statement to ANI, Bhattacharya criticised the organisers of Dua Lipa’s concert and the social media frenzy that followed. “Dua Lipa doesn’t even know who owns it. She just performed whatever script was given to her,” he remarked.

As for the fans who lauded the move, he added, “When the song played at the BKC concert, my phone didn’t stop ringing. People were saying, ‘Dada, it’s your song.’ But when I saw hashtags like ‘tribute’ trending without proper acknowledgement to the creators, it felt disheartening.”

Bhattacharya also lashed out at fans, calling them “mosquitoes” in a “fight between two lions” — him and Khan — yes, we’re rolling our eyes too.

“This is a fight between two lions, Shah Rukh Khan and me. Fans are like mosquitoes in this larger battle. Don’t fool yourselves with this artificial world,” he said. He further emphasised, “Dua Lipas like this are countless. She just danced to one of my songs, nothing more.”

The controversy has also reignited Bhattacharya’s long-standing rift with Khan, a star whose on-screen persona was once synonymous with Bhattacharya’s soulful voice. “When self-respect is hurt, you feel like saying, ‘Enough is enough.’ I wasn’t singing for him; I was singing for my craft. But when everyone else was being acknowledged — even the tea vendor on set — but not the singer, I decided to stop being his voice,” Bhattacharya explained.

Despite their differences, the singer clarified that he holds no grudges. “Shah Rukh is now such a massive star that even he might not realise the level he has reached. I’m still the same person, growing in my way. We both have egos, but I don’t need his support. I’m the bigger Scorpio,” he quipped, referencing their shared astrological sign.

Bhattacharya’s voice defined many of Shah Rukh Khan’s most iconic moments in Bollywood, from Baadshah’s peppy ‘Woh Ladki Jo Sabse Alag Hai’ to Chalte Chalte’s romantic title track.