Fresh updates from New Delhi: The Supreme Court has rescheduled its review of Ustad Fayyaz Wasifuddin Dagar’s petition against AR Rahman in the contentious ‘Veyra Raja Veyra’ copyright saga. Mark your calendars for February 13, when arguments resume.
Initiated in 2023, Dagar’s grievance targets the song from Ponniyin Selvan 2, alleging unauthorized appropriation of his family’s 1970s ‘Shiv Stuti’—a talas-rich praise performed worldwide.
Rahman mounted a robust defense, differentiating his work’s lyrics and architecture as novel, inspired by ancient 13th-century verses from Narayan Pandit Acharya, not the Dagar variant.
Judicial flips have marked the timeline: Delhi High Court’s single judge in April imposed a Rs 2 crore deposit on Dagar alongside credit mandates for OTTs and social media. A double bench upended this in September, ruling no initial proof substantiated the Dagar brothers’ sole creation.
This apex court deferral intensifies focus on India’s music copyright framework, where classical motifs frequently underpin film scores. The outcome may redefine boundaries for artistic borrowing.
Amidst polarized opinions, the dispute embodies the evolving dialogue between custodians of tradition and cinematic innovators, promising influential precedents for the entertainment sector.