Gaurav Deubey (MID-DAY; September 30, 2015)

Music label T-Series recently completed 30 years in the industry and a special show was organised to celebrate the occasion. Several celebrities were spotted at the event and apparently, music maestro A R Rahman was supposed to perform at the event. However, he failed to attend it due to a fatwa issued against him earlier this month.

Says a source close to the music composer, "Rahman sir was supposed to perform at the concert, but couldn't because of the recent controversy. He has personally apologised to Bhushan (Kumar, T-Series chief) and had also sent a letter to the team saying he didn't want the show to be disrupted because of him."

Earlier this month, a local Muslim group issued a fatwa against Rahman and Iranian director Majid Majidi for their work on a film titled Muhammad: Messenger of God. In the fatwa, they have called for a ban on the film, stating that the Prophet's word is that no visual or picture of him be created or kept. They claim that the project makes a mockery of Islam, and Muslims working on the film have committed sacrilege and will have to read the kalma again and solemnise their marriage one more time.

T-Series chief Bhushan Kumar says, "Rahman sir tried his best to come (for the show), but the situation was unavoidable."