Composer-singer Vishal Dadlani is known for his blunt opinions, be it in his interviews or on social media. Last year, when singer Jasleen Royal had opened for the American band Coldplay in India, she had received backlash for her act, and Vishal Dadlani was also amongst the ones who had called out Jasleen Royal’s act as he called it “embarassing”. However, seems like the duo has kept their differences aside as a new clip has surfaced online which shows Vishal apologising to Jasleen for his words.
Jasleen’s manager Yash Sanjeev Badwe put out a clip on his Instagram from a recent episode of Indian Idol where the singer had gone as a guest. In the video, while she was interacting with rapper Badshah on stage, Vishal took the opportunity to clear the air on what transpired between him and Jasleen. Interestingly, the whole interaction was allegedly edited out of the episode that aired.
Vishal Dadlani apologises to Jasleen Royal
Vishal can be heard saying, “Main Jasleen ko bahut time se janta hun aur pichle saal hamari ek controversy ho gayi thi (referring to the Coldplay incident). Maine kuch zyada bol diya ek masle mein aur mujhe bolna nahin chahiye tha kyunki I truly admire Jasleen’s compositions. As a composer, hamare paas zyada female composers nahin hain. Galti mujhse ye hui ki organisers ko main kahin blame kar raha tha lekin bola maine galat tareeke se. I want to publicly apologise to you. It must be done.”
Watch the video here:
He added, “Female composers hamare paas yahaan nahin hain and I am the last person to discourage someone who does such good work. You really write beautiful songs, maine say dafa uske baad bhi kaha hai par koi chaapta nahin hai, koi bolta nahin hai. It was never my intention to diss you as an artiste. Agar wo hua hai mujhse, I genuinely want to apologise. And agar nahin, ye hua hai mujhse and I really want to apologise.”
Jasleen, who was visibly emotional at the confession, admitted to her feeling hurt with his earlier comments. “I always considered you as a mentor. I have called you with little-little things. So, it just felt like… I see you as a mentor and a friend, so it hurt me. But it’s okay, we have our own journeys. That’s really big of you,” she said, leading to hugging it out with Vishal. Seeing the two of them let go of the past, Badshah also commented, “It’s such a beautiful moment.”
What had happened?
In January 2025, after Jasleen’s opening act for Coldplay, she had gotten backlash from the audience. Vishal also added to it as he put up an Insta story saying, “I’m really sorry, but when you put a basic-to-bad singer in front of a large crowd on a large stage, all you’re doing is showing more people that the individual can’t really sing, and that sadly, systems within labels in India aren’t geared towards really promoting the best we have… I’ve just seen some clips, and my gosh… How embarrassing! For the Country, the artiste, the public, as well as “the scene”.”