Bhojpuri actor Pawan Singh has apologised to Anjali Raghav after she announced that she would quit the Bhojpuri film industry, as he touched her waist on stage without her consent. At an event in Lucknow recently, Pawan repeatedly touched Anjali’s waist, saying something was stuck on it. Anjali seemed visibly uncomfortable, but Pawan ignored her.
Pawan Singh apologises to Anjali Raghav over his action
Now, taking to his Instagram Stories, Pawan also said that he had no “wrong intention” towards Anjali. He wrote his brief note in Hindi, “Anjali ji, vyasth schedule ke kaaran main aapka live dekh nahi paaya. Mujhe jab iss baat ki jaankari huyi, toh mujhe bura laga (Anjali, due to my busy schedule, I couldn’t watch your live. When I came to know about the matter, I felt very bad).”
“Mera aapke prati koi bhi ghalat intention nahi tha kyuki humlog kalakaar hai. Iske bawajood, agar aapko humari kisi bhi byawahaar se taqleef huyi ho toh uske liye main shama prarthi hoon (I had no wrong intention towards you as we are artists. Even then, if you were hurt by my behaviour, then I apologise),” ended his note.
What did Anjali say about incident, quitting Bhojpuri industry
On Saturday, Anjali shared videos on Instagram explaining what happened at the event. She said in Hindi, “I have been very disturbed for the past two days…Do you think I would feel happy or enjoy being touched in public like that?” Anjali added, “Jab baad mein maine apne team member se pucha ki kuch laga hai, unhone kaha ki kuch bhi nahi laga tha. Tab mujhe bohot zyada bura laga, gussa aaya aur rona bhi aaya. Lekin mujhe samajh nahi aaya ki main kya karun? Kyunki vahan sab unka fan base tha, unko bhagwan bol rahe the aur khud ko bhakt bol bolke unke pairon main gir rahe the log (They said again that something was stuck, so I thought maybe something really was, that’s why they said it. Later, when I asked my team member if anything was stuck, they told me that nothing was there. That’s when I felt really bad—I was angry, and I even felt like crying. But I didn’t know what to do, because everyone there was their fan, calling them God and falling at their feet, calling themselves devotees).”
She also added, “I absolutely do not support touching any girl without her permission. To begin with, it is very wrong. And to touch someone in this manner is extremely wrong. Agar yeh Haryana main hua hota toh jawab dene ki zarurat nahi padti (If the same thing had happened in Haryana, I wouldn’t even have needed to respond); the public there would have given the answer themselves. But I was in their place, in Lucknow. Main Bhojpuri industry mein ab kaam nahi karungi (I will no longer work in the Bhojpuri industry).”
The incident took place at the promotional event of Pawan’s recently released song Saiya Seva Kare, which also features Anjali.
Amid backlash following Pawan’s gesture, his second wife, Jyoti Singh, in an Instagram post, accused him of neglecting her for months and threatened ‘self-immolation’. A part of her note read, “What grave offence have I committed that I am being punished like this? Today, my parents’ names have been disrespected. If I am not deserving of you, then you could have just left me. There was no need to give me false hope during the Lok Sabha elections. Today, you have given me no other choice than to self-immolate, but I cannot even do that because the questions will always be raised against me and my parents.”
About Pawan’s career
Pawan is known for films such as Pratigya (2008), Satya (2017), Crack Fighter (2019), Raja (2019), Sher Singh (2019), Mera Bharat Mahaan (2022), Har Har Gange (2023), among others. He also sang the Stree 2 song Aayi Nai and Lagavelu Lipstick.
