Musician Salim Merchant revealed that he and Sidhu Moose Wala, who was shot dead in a village in Punjab, had a song coming out ‘very soon’. Talking about Sidhu’s demise, Salim wrote on social media, “I’m shocked & saddened by the news.. Sidhu was a gem .. our song was going to release very soon .. this is unbelievable.”
“I can’t believe this has happened. Sidhu was a great human being, a very kind, respectful and soft-spoken guy. I met Sidhu in October last year. Afsana Khan, who I’d worked with on an independent project, spoke highly of him. She insisted on a collaboration with Sidhu. Incidentally, I had a composition that was a theth Punjabi song with a rustic feel. I felt it would be perfect to have Sidhu sing it. So I went to Chandigarh and met him,” Hindustan Times quoted Salim as saying.
Salim added, “We wanted to release the song last year, after we recorded in October, but then elections came and he got busy. So, the release was stalled. After the elections, we had to delay it further because both of us got busy with our work commitments. Ultimately, we decided to release it in June. In fact, I had a show in Delhi on Saturday and after the show I was working on his song in my hotel room, as we were just two weeks away from release.”
Several celebrities including Vicky Kaushal, Ranveer Singh, Shehnaaz Gill, and Ashoke Pandit have expressed their condolences on Sidhu Moose Wala’s passing.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)