Sonu nigam is angry upset & hurt by the flak the nightingale Lata Mangeshkar has got for her declaration on the flyover issue. Sonu speaks to Subhash K Jha...

"People's comments on Lataji's stand on the flyover issue have left me intensely hurt and shamed on her behalf.

Have they forgotten who Lataji is? She isn't the only one raising her voice about the proposed flyover. But because she's a huge celebrity with an enormously dignified image, and also because she's a frail old woman, people feel she won't retaliate, so let's make her a target.

If it was some nondescript Sulbha Pandey instead of Lata Mangeshkar wouldn't the lady have been given the right to raise her voice against the flyover without people pouncing on her?

Lata Didi is a citizen of Mumbai. She has every right to raise her voice against what she thinks is a wrong civic move. Why are they calling Lataji selfish? If someone complains about a bad road in his locality would we call him selfish just because there's a worse road in some remote village? Everyone is selfish in the wider perspective."

Livid and uncontrollable, Sonu takes a deep breath. "India is ruled by politicians who have no civic sense. Peddar Road is not a commercial area. Nowhere in the world do residential areas have flyovers. You won't see a single flyover in residential areas of London or New York.

I know there's a flyover in Peddar Road... yeh hamari ghalti nahin hai yeh civic department ki bewaqoofee hai. If they feel that Worli Seaface has to be linked with Nariman Point then do it from the oceanic route.

Why disrupt the entire residential locality, snatch away the people's peace? Have flyovers ever diminished the congestion of traffic anywhere?

The government has to de-centralize the Peddar road area...spread out the offices to other parts, stop the construction of skyscrapers. Why don't they scatter the clutter of business places in that area?

A flyover won't solve the traffic problem.Ten years from now they'll regret the flyover. It won't solve the traffic problem. This is short-term thinking. Instead of cornering Lataji why don't people write letters to the government asking for a permanent solution to the congestion problem? "

"To abuse a celebrity is the biggest past-time of this country. How easy it is for someone to stand up and shout, Lata Mangeshkar is selfish. What property are they talking about? She doesn't have even five percent of what the Ambanis and Modis own. She has worked hard for what she owns.

How dare they raise their voice against this phenomenal woman who has served the country for decades? I am sorry to say newspapers shouldn't give people with nothing to their credit the right to hit out at someone whose achievements have no bounds.

Leave Lata Didi alone. She speaks on behalf of the entire locality. When I saw the vicious tone of the letters against her I had tears in my eyes. Some rare people should be made immune of the cult of celeb-bashing. Lataji is one of them.

I'm strongly against this humiliation she's being subjected to. She's too big to be humbled like this. I don't care what others think. If this is how achievers are treated I don't want to be an achiever. Lataji is a heritage. We can't allow people to insult her in this way."