Pak qawwali singer may sue producers of Bajrangi Bhaijaan
ISLAMABAD: Amjad Sabri, a prominent qawwali singer from Pakistan, has planned to sue the producers of ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ for using a qawwali, to which he claims to own the copyright, without permission.
On the other hand, the country’s largest record label, EMI Pakistan, says it owns the song’s copyright.
“Revamping the qawwali without my permission or consent is simply unethical and inappropriate,” Amjad Sabri told Urdu-language newspaper, Daily Express. “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.”
The original qawwali was written by Purnam Allahabadi, composed by Maqbool Sabri, and performed by the Sabri Brothers in 1975.
Sabri also feels Bollywood has not done justice to the reworked version, composed by Pritam Chakraborty and performed by Adnan Sami. “They have not done justice to the heritage of our elders. I have hired a lawyer to sort out this matter,” he said.
Meanwhile, EMI Pakistan will send separate legal notices to Salman Khan Films and Kabir Khan Films (the film’s producers), Media Concepts (the company responsible for airing its music in Pakistan), and 8xM and Jalwa music channels (subsidiaries of Media Concepts).
“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,” Zeeshan Chaudhry, EMI Pakistan’s general manager, told The Express Tribune.
Chaudhry also said the company had legal documents to prove that Sabri wasn’t the owner. “We have the rights to the complete recording of the original qawwali and its derivatives, and neither Adnan Sami nor the producer of the music or anyone else has acquired rights from us,” he said.