Salman Khan’s Dabangg 3 is all set to hit the screens on December 20 and one of the USPs of the franchise other than the superstar’s charisma is its songs Tere Mast Mast Do Nain and its follow-up Tere Naina Bade Dagabaaz Re in the first two installments. However, there is going to be marked a change in the third installment as Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan who sang the above two tracks will not be crooning for the third time in the franchise for Salman.

The move comes after the severing of cultural ties between India and Pakistan and the song’s composers Sajid-Wajid were left with no choice but to replace Rahat Fateh Ali Khan with an Indian singer. An entertainment portal reported that the composers and the makers of the film have roped in Javed Ali to sing for them in the film. Wajid told the portal, “Yes we replaced Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s voice with Javed Ali. This decision was unanimous. When it comes to the country, nothing else matters. We would be willing to sacrifice even our lives to protect our country. How does sacrificing a singer matter? And we don’t even see it a sacrifice.”

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Wajid also told the website that this move to remove Rahat Fateh Ali Khan should not be taken personally. He said, “We have the highest regard for him. He is an enormously talented singer. Many of his fans regard his song in Dabangg and Dabangg 2 to be the best he has sung in India. And we’re proud of those songs. Lekin ab kya Karen? Halaat hi kuch aise gaye ho donon mulk ke beech. We respect individual talent from every part of the world. Bollywood welcomes talent from all over the world. In fact we are often hospitable at the cost of our own talent. But now things have changed. We have to shut all doors and windows between the two countries. We can’t exempt cultural exchanges from the ban on Pakistan.”

He also heaped praise on Javed and said that he has done full justice to the new song while keeping the essence intact. Talking about the singer, Wajid said, “Javed is a great voice. We don’t need talent from anywhere else. We have the some of the greatest talent here.” Dabangg 3 is directed by Prabhu Dheva and also stars Sonakshi Sinha, Saiee Manjrekar, Kichcha Sudeep and Arbaaz Khan.

(Source: Bollywood Hungama)