Bajrangi Bhaijaan makers slapped with legal notice

Salman Khan's upcoming release 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' has got into a fresh controversy over the song Bhar Do Jholi.

The makers of the film have been slapped with a legal notice by Abdul Samee Siddiqui. Abdul Samee Siddiqui owns the rights to the dargah song after the heirs of Sabri brothers sold it to him in 2007.

He sent the notice to Salman Khan, his production house, director Kabir Khan's banner, T-Series and music composer Pritam, the studio which backed the film along with a few others involved with the project.

"I acquired the rights from the heirs of Sabri brothers eight years ago for a film that I was making on Indo-Pak relations with Rajkumar Santoshi which didn't materialise. But that doesn't mean the qawwali can be used by another person just like that," Abdul Samee Siddiqui said.

His lawyer, Rashid Zafar, said that the notice pertains to infringement of copyright. "If they don't reply to this letter, we will soon decide our future course of action," he adds.

One of the heirs to the Sabri heritage, Amjad Farid Sabri said, "My kids are Salman Khan fans. So am I. But I am upset and angry because they used the qawwali without our consent. Had they asked, I would have happily let them use it in their film."

His cousin, Shumail Maqbool Sabri who is the son of the original composer Maqbool Sabri also reflects Amjad. "Not only did they not ask, they didn't even give us credit. It's sad that a legal notice had to be sent to them when things could have been settled amicably," he adds.

However, the makers of Bajrangi Bhaijaan remained unavailable for comment.