India's Oscar-winning Music Director AR Rahman on Saturday was slapped with Rs 2 crore fine by the Delhi High Court. AR Rahman has been fighting a legal case in the Delhi High Court over a copyright infringement case. In layman's language, AR Rahman has been accused of copying a song. This case is related to the song 'Veera Raja Veera' from Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's film 'Ponniyin Selvan 2'. According to the Delhi High Court, this song is a copy of 'Shiva Stuti' composed by the father and uncle of famous classical singer Ustad Faiyazuddin and Wasifuddin Dagar. Also, the court has directed that this amount be deposited in the Registrar's Office of the Court.
AR Rahman Song Copy Controversy
As per reports, in the year 2023, Indian classical singer Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar, who was awarded Padma Shri, filed a petition in the Delhi High Court. In this, he had alleged that the song 'Veera Raja Veera' from the film 'Ponniyin Selvan 2' is a copy of 'Shiva Stuti' composed by his father Nasir Faiyazuddin Dagar and uncle Zahiruddin Dagar.
In his petition, Dagar had demanded a ban on the use of this song. Hearing the case, Justice Pratibha M Singh said, the song 'Veera Raja Veera' is very similar to 'Shiva Stuti'. Due to this, the Justice has ordered Rahman and Madras Talkies to correct the credits of the song. Along with this, it has also been said to give respect to the Dagar family. Not only this, the court has also directed Rahman to pay a fine of Rs 2 crore and Rs 2 lakh to the Dagar family. The court said that the credit given to the Dagar family in the song will be updated on all OTT.
AR Rahman denied copying the song
AR Rahman has termed these allegations as wrong. Also, the team of Madras Talkies has also termed these allegations as baseless. He has argued that the song 'Veera Raja Veera' from 'Ponniyin Selvan 2' is inspired by Narayan Pandit Acharya's 13th century composition.
Ponniyin Selvan 2 was released in the year 2023. Apart from Aishwarya, all those stars including Chiyaan Vikram, Jayam Ravi and Trisha Krishnan, Prabhu, Shobhita Dhulipala, Aishwarya Lakshmi and Prakash Raj were seen in this film.