Kamal Ghorui
Arijit Singh left the industry and his fans in shock as he announced retirement from playback singing. He took to his social media and said, “I am happy to announce that I am not going to be taking any new assignments as a playback vocalist from now on. I am calling it off. It was a wonderful journey,” instantly triggering widespread reactions and disbelief from fans. For over a decade, Arijit has been one of the most prolific voices in Hindi cinema, delivering a steady stream of songs year after year. The singer had 6 songs in the month of January 2026 itself. These include ‘Sitaare’ from Sriram Raghavan’s period war drama Ikkis, ‘Ghar Kab Aaoge’, a reimagined version of the iconic Border (1997) song ‘Sandese Aate Hain’ Border 2, ‘Sunhari Kirne’ from Gandhi Talks, and ‘Hum Toh Tere Hi Liye The’ from Vishal Bhardwaj’s upcoming romantic thriller O’Romeo.
Arijit’s most recent release, however, is the patriotic track ‘Maatrubhumi’ from ‘Battle of Galwan’ which features none other than Salman Khan. That this song marks his final outing as a playback singer feels almost poetic, considering the well-known and long-standing rift between the singer and the superstar that dates back more than a decade.When Arijit was at the peak of his career while hosting an awards ceremony, Salman called Arijit on stage to accept the Best Playback Singer (Male) trophy for ‘Tum Hi Ho’ from Mohit Suri’s 2013 blockbuster ‘Aashiqui 2’. Noticing Arijit’s fatigue, Salman joked in his trademark style, “Soye nahi kya?” (You didn’t sleep or what?), to which Arijit replied frankly, “Aap logo ne sula diya” (You guys put me off to sleep). What appeared to be harmless banter at the time would later take on far greater significance.The strain became public in 2016, ahead of the release of Ali Abbas Zafar’s ‘Sultan’, when Arijit posted a heartfelt apology on social media. He had recorded the romantic track “Jag Ghoomeya”, picturised on Salman Khan and Anushka Sharma, but the version that made it to the film featured Rahat Fateh Ali Khan instead, a decision widely believed to be influenced by Salman.In his now-deleted post, Arijit had written, “I never insulted you… I tried so many times to apologise. Please don’t remove the song I sang for ‘Sultan’. Let me retire with that song in my library.” The message went viral within minutes, fuelling speculation that Salman had sidelined Arijit and was obstructing his opportunities in Bollywood. Although Salman never publicly addressed the issue at the time, Arijit continued to remain one of the industry’s most sought-after singers.A full reconciliation took nearly seven years. Salman and Arijit finally reunited professionally in Manish Sharma’s 2023 spy thriller ‘Tiger 3’, produced by Yash Raj Films, the same banner that had backed Sultan. Arijit lent his voice to both the romantic number ‘Ruaan’ and the end-credits dance track ‘Leke Prabhu Ka Naam’, filmed on Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif. During promotions, Salman even highlighted the collaboration as their first together.It was only last year, however, during a Bigg Boss 19 Weekend Ka Vaar episode, that Salman openly spoke about the rift and clarified that they are now good friends. “Arijit aur main bahut achhe dost hai. Woh misunderstanding mere side se huyi thi. Uske baad usne gaane bhi kiye mere liye. Tiger 3 mein kiya usne, aage Galwan. (Arijit and I are very good friends. That misunderstanding was from my end. After that, he also sang songs for me in Tiger 3 and now, in Battle of Galwan),” Salman said, finally putting years of speculation to rest.
