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Delhi HC Orders AR Rahman, Mani Ratnam to Deposit Rs 2 Crore in Copyright Dispute
The celebrated song Veera Raja Veera from filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s historical epic Ponniyin Selvan 2 has found itself at the center of a major legal controversy. Composed by Oscar-winning music director AR Rahman, the classical number, which played a pivotal role in elevating the valor of the protagonist on screen, has now led to a copyright infringement suit.
On Friday, the Delhi High Court issued an interim order directing AR Rahman, along with production houses Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions, to deposit a sum of Rs 2 crore in connection with the lawsuit. The case was filed by Padma Shri awardee and renowned Dhrupad vocalist Ustad Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar. The court further instructed the makers of Ponniyin Selvan 2 to appropriately credit the Junior Dagar Brothers for the composition across all relevant online platforms.
The court observed that Veera Raja Veera is musically “identical” to Shiva Stuti, a revered devotional piece composed and performed by the late Ustad Nasir Faiyazuddin Dagar and Ustad Nasir Zahiruddin Dagar—popularly known as the Junior Dagar Brothers. The original piece was recorded in 1978 at the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam during the Holland Festival.
In 2023, Ustad Nasir Faiyazuddin’s son and legal heir, Wasifuddin Dagar, filed the copyright infringement suit, alleging that Rahman’s Veera Raja Veera borrowed the musical foundation and taandav style of the Dagar brothers’ rendition without permission or credit, amounting to outright plagiarism.
In response, counsel for Madras Talkies and AR Rahman strongly refuted the allegations, dismissing them as misconceived and motivated by financial gain and publicity. They contended that Veera Raja Veera is based on a traditional composition created by Narayana Panditacharya in the 13th century and asserted that Rahman’s work is an original piece within the Dhrupad tradition.
As the legal proceedings continue, this case has sparked significant debate within the artistic community about the intersection of tradition, originality, and intellectual property in classical music adaptations for contemporary cinema.
