Rahman gets shock from Delhi High Court. It is known that Padma Shri awardee Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar and Indian classical lyricist filed a law suit in 2023 accusing Oscar winner Rahman of copying the Veera Raja Veera in Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan 2 from his Shiva Stuti, composed by his father Nasir Faiyazuddin Dagar and uncle Zahiruddin Dagar, who are renowned as Junior Dagar brothers.
Dagar in his law suit requested the court to bar Rahman and the production house from using the song permanently and demanded compensation for the same. Justice Pratibha Singh, passed an interim order noting that ‘Veera Raja Veera’ is “not merely based on or inspired from” ‘Shiva Stuti’, but in fact “identical to it with certain changes.”
The court directed Rahman and Madras Talkies to deposit Rs 2crs with the Court Registry while the case is pending. It also imposed cost of Rs 2 lakh on the defendants.
The court also directed the OTT platforms and online platforms, the slide depicting the credits in regard to the impugned song, shall be replaced as under “Composition based on Shiva Stuti by Late Ustad N Faiyazuddin Dagar and Late Ustad Zahiruddin Dagar”.
However Madras Talkies and Rahman denied all the allegations stating that ‘Shiva Stuti’ belongs to the Dhrupad tradition of Hindustani classical music and forms a part of the public domain.