Rupankar-KK 'No personal animosity, never had any': Rupankar Bagchi apologises unconditionally for his remark on KK
Kolkata/IBNS: National award-winning Bengali singer Rupankar Bagchi on Friday issued an 'unconditional apology' to late singer Krishnakumar Kunnath's family after his comment questioning the "excitement" over KK's concert in Kolkata not only earned him flak on social media but also severe trolling and death threats.
Addressing a press conference, the Bengali singer said, "Firstly I would like to apologise unconditionally to late singer KK's family. I have deleted my Facebook video which created an endless loop of controversy on social media. I pray his soul rests in peace."
On Tuesday hours before KK passed away, Bagchi in a Facebook video questioned the 'excitement' of the West Bengal audience over the Bollywood singer's concert.
"We (Bengali singers) all sing much better than KK but why don't you get excited over our performances? Why? You are always cheering KK. Who is K, man?" he had posted.
"We are better than any K. At any point of time and performance, the singers (Anupam Roy, Somlata Acharya, Iman Chakraborty, Raghav Chattopadhyay) whom I have mentioned here (in the video) are far better than any K. Why are you all so excited with Bombay? For how long will you all be excited over Bombay? Support Bengal like South India or Odisha do for their own people," he had added.
To the dismay of his thousands of fans, KK died of a heart attack after the concert and which paved the way for unsparing trolls and controversy over Rupankar Bagchi's comment.
During Friday's press conference, Bagchi said, "In my entire singing career, I had never imagined I would be facing such horror in my life. A Facebook video would lead me and my family to such horror and mental distress."
"The situation has led me to take help from the police and get security posted outside my house. My wife has been getting death threats on her phone. As a singer, I have received immense love across the country and the world. I never imagined that a moment of negligence would bring me so much aggression and hatred," he said.
"There is so much hatred and anger but much of it has been created since I failed to properly address my concerns," he added.
Bagchi said he has no personal animosity against late singer KK.
"Why should I have any personal angst against him. I wanted the Bengali audience to shower the same kind of love on us as his concert. As a singer, I have no insecurity. I feel as a Bengali singing community we face threat, especially seeing the audience's dedication to the success of singers from the South and Western India. I didn't want to talk about me as a person but of the entire community," he said.
"However, I do realise, I should have asked my fellow singers from Bengal before taking their names. I would like to reiterate I didn't see the issue the way it took a turn. Taking the name of a nationwide famous singer like KK was merely symbolic. I didn't want to target him. It was never my intention," he said.
"Who knew destiny had such evil plans for him? A legendary singer like KK losing his life while performing in Kolkata is heart-wrenching. I want to apologise to all of you again," said the singer.
After his performance at the Nazrul Mancha, KK returned to his hotel in downtown Kolkata on Tuesday where he felt sick and was rushed to the hospital. However, he was declared brought dead at the hospital at 10 pm.
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