MUMBAI: Producers of ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ could be sued for using a qawwali in the Salman Khan starrer without obtaining copyrights for the piece. According to reports, renowned Pakistani qawwali singer Amjad Sabri spoke to Daily Express- an Urdu newspaper claiming he holds rights to the qawwali.
“Revamping the qawwali without my permission or consent is simply unethical and inappropriate. It is the property of my family and will continue to be so for the coming seven generations. This is an asset of my father Ghulam Farid Sabri and my uncle Maqbool Sabri,” he said to Daily Express.
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The singer also said that he feels the Bollywood version’s composer- Pritam and singer- Adnan Sami did not do “justice” to the reworked edition, and that he has hired a lawyer to look into the issue. T-Series has acquired the music of the film.
Meanwhile, EMI Pakistan, which is the second largest record label in the country, claims that it holds the rights to the song. The label will apparently be issuing legal notices to the film’s producers- Kabir Khan Films and Salman Khan Films, the company which has aired the film’s music in Pakistan- Media Concepts and its subsidiaries- 8xM and Jalwa music channels.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, EMI Pakistan’s general manager Zeeshan Chaudhry said, “The qawwali ‘Bhar Do Jholi’ is an EMI product, not only released by us but also recorded and produced under our banner. None of the authorities involved in the making of Bajrangi Bhaijan approached us to acquire the rights. So, we have sent them legal notices.”
He also added that the label has legal documents proving that Sabri does not own the rights to the original qawwali, and that no one from ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ contacted them to acquire its rights.
