Ponniyin Selvan 2 team responds after film’s song Veera Veera is caught in plagiarism row. Here’s what happened

Veera Veera, a song composed by AR Rahman for Ponniyin Selvan 2, has been caught in a plagiarism row. This happened after Dhrupad singer Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar alleged that the tune was lifted from his father and uncle’s Shiva stuti. However, the allegations have been denied by Madras Talkies, the makers of the film. (Also Read | AR Rahman breaks silence after Pune police stopped his show midway, shares clip of cop on stage)

Ponniyin Selvan 2, which released in theatres recently, has been helmed by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Vikram, Aishwarya Rai, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Trisha, Sobhita Dhulipala, and Prakash Raj, among others. It is based on author Kalki Krishnamurthy’s popular 1955 Tamil novels of the same name.

As per an Indian Express report, Madras Talkies denied the allegations and confirmed that Veera Veera was not a copy of the Dagar Brothers’ composition and highlighted that Wasifuddin’s copyright claim is “misconceived”. They also claimed that Wasifuddin is doing this allegedly “for monetary gains & publicity”. Madras Talkies further claimed that Veera Veera is a “traditional composition created by Narayana Panditacharyain in the 13th century”.

According to the report, Wasifuddin has sent a letter to Rahman claiming that said the composition is almost entirely “lifted” for the film. “I wish Madras Talkies and Mr Rahman had taken the family’s permission. I would have never said no. But doing it like this, for massive commercial gains, is very problematic. The composition has just been lifted and sung in the same taandav style…. The only difference is the arrangement of the piece,” the letter read.

He further added that the Shiva Stuti was first recorded in 1978 as part of a live concert at the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam as part of the Holland Festival. It was re-released in 1996 in the form of two CDs. The Dagar Brothers – Nasir Zahiruddin and Nasir Faiyazuddin, are a pair of Indian singers of the classical dhrupad genre. They were the 19th generation of an unbroken chain of the Dagarvani Dhrupad tradition.

Meanwhile, Ponniyin Selvan 2 is having a glorious run at the box office. The film, in its opening 4-day weekend, grossed over ₹200 crore globally. The first part of the franchise grossed over ₹500 crore at the box office globally during its theatrical run. In Tamil Nadu, PS 1 went on to become the highest-grossing Tamil film of all time after surpassing Kamal Haasan’s Vikram’s lifetime gross of ₹183 crore in the state.