'AR Rahman Is The Last To Take Credit': Ram Gopal Varma Defends Composer After Old Jai Ho Video Sparks Debate

Oscar-winning music composer AR Rahman's remark in a recent interview about not getting work in Bollywood because of a "communal thing" has landed him in controversy. Following his comment, there has been much debate around it. The situation escalated further after an old video interview of filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma resurfaced and began circulating widely on social media.

In the viral video clip, Ram Gopal Varma was seemingly suggesting that the world-famous track Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire was composed by Sukhwinder Singh and not AR Rahman. After the interview resurfaced, many users online said Rahman took credit for work that, allegedly, was not his.

On Wednesday, Ram Gopal Varma took to X (formerly Twitter) to clarify that his statement was being taken out of context. Addressing the controversy, the filmmaker wrote, "To all concerned .. I am being misquoted and misread out of context in the matter of the Jai Ho song. In my view, @arrahman is the greatest composer and the nicest human being I ever met, and he's the last person to take away anybody's credit. I hope this puts an end to the negativism surrounding the issue."

In the old interview that triggered the controversy, RGV recalled an incident that allegedly took place while AR Rahman was composing songs for Subhash Ghai's film Yuvvraaj. According to Varma, a meeting was scheduled at Sukhwinder Singh's studio, but Rahman arrived late. During the wait, Rahman reportedly asked Sukhwinder if he had composed the song.

RGV claimed that this question angered filmmaker Subhash Ghai, who allegedly shouted at Rahman, saying he was paying him Rs 3 crore for the song and not Sukhwinder. Varma further stated that Rahman responded sharply, saying, "Mind your tongue. You're paying for my name, not for my work. Don't get confused." After this exchange, Rahman reportedly left the studio.

The Rangeela director went on to make a controversial claim, stating, "Sukhwinder told me that Rahman later called him and asked him to complete the song and email it to him." He further added that about a year later, Sukhwinder allegedly received a cheque of Rs 5 lakh from Rahman's manager. According to RGV, when Sukhwinder asked why, the manager reportedly said, "You made a song for Rahman and Rahman sold it to a party, and this 5 lakh is your share."

Varma then claimed that the song was sold to Slumdog Millionaire and became Jai Ho. Despite the viral claims and public debate, neither AR Rahman nor Sukhwinder Singh has responded directly to the allegations so far.