Bajrangi Bhaijan may face legal action over qawwali

Islamabad - Pakistan's largest record label EMI and famous qawwali singer Amjad Sabri have told the national media that they have served legal notices on the producer, the music director and others.

Indian mega star Salman Khan's blockbuster Bajrangi Bhaijan that has made Rs1 billion in the first three days of its release, may soon be embroiled in a legal battle over a qawwali scene.
Pakistan's largest record label EMI and famous qawwali singer Amjad Sabri have told the national media that they have served legal notices on the producer, the music director and others for infringement of their intellectual copyright of the qawwali and will fight the case in a Mumbai court for which they have also hired some prominent lawyers of Mumbai.
The company said it is its product which was not only released by EMI Pakistan but also recorded and produced under its banner for the first time in 1975.
Amjad Sabri, a scion of the legendary 'Sabri Brothers', says the original qawwali Bhar Do Jholi... written by Purnim Allahbadi was rendered by his father Ghulam Farid Sabri and uncle Maqbool Sabri and immediately became a hit worldwide. It has been inducted in the film without his permission.
Bajrangi Bhaijan was released in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabd and other major cities across Pakistan on Eid Al Fitr and was running to packed houses.
The version used in the film has been reworked by well-known composer Pritam Chakraborty, rendered by Adnan Sami and produced by Salman Khan Films and Kabir Khan Films.
"Revamping the qawwali without my permission or consent is simply unethical and inappropriate," Amjad Sabri told Pakistani daily Express. "This is not an ordinary kalam (devotional number). It's the property of my family and will continue to be so for the coming seven generations.
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