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Prime VIP
Less than a month ago, a case was registered in a Kolkata court against Sajid Nadiadwala's Akshay Kumar-starrer, Housefull, for using lyrics and a tune from the 1981 Kalyanji- Anandji composed song, Apni to jaise taise from Laawaris. The bench court had “prima facie“ passed judgment in favour of Laawaris producer-director Prakash Mehra's sons, and the heirs of Kalyanji- Anandji, asking for the song to be removed from the film.
But the judgement was appealed, the injunction was stayed, and the movie released without any hassle.
Now, music company Saregama, which had not commented on the case ear- lier, has finally spoken, and thrown its weight behind Nadiadwala. Says Apurv Nagpal, managing director of Saregama, “We didn't comment earlier because the matter was sub-judice. But since the media has been unfairly holding him respon- sible, we thought it was time we spoke up. The dispute was always between Saregama and Prakash Mehra's sons.“ The verdict on the case will be out on June 21. Nadiadwala says it's a “matter of honour“ now.
“For 21 years, my company hasn't had a litigation,“ he says. “We had legally bought the rights, and are just hop- ing that it comes through in court. I hope the court's judgement will help clear this confusion, so the indus- try knows the right way of acquiring songs.“
