The Delhi high court on May 6 stayed an interim order against music composer A.R. Rahman and the producers of 2023 Tamil film Ponniyin Selvan 2 over a song in it. However, the court directed Rahman and the producers to deposit Rs. 2 crore with the high court registry within 10 days, as directed by the single bench.
Rahman had appealed against the single judge’s order and sought a stay. The single judge, in his interim order last month, had directed the producers to insert a slide in the film on all OTT and online platforms to give due credit to Junior Dagar Brothers — late Ustad N. Faiyazuddin Dagar and late Ustad Zahiruddin Dagar — for the composition. The high court stayed this direction too, until it examined the music composer’s appeal on May 23.
Awarding Rs. 2 crore in costs to the family of late Dagar brothers, the single judge had held that from a listener’s point of view, the core of Rahman’s Veera raja Veera song in the film was not just inspired but was, in fact, “identical” in notes, emotion, and aural impact to the Shiv Stuti of the Dagar brothers.
