Recently, Uttam Singh, the music composer of Gadar: Ek Prem Katha said that he was not informed by the makers of Gadar 2 that they would be using his compositions Main Nikla Gaddi Leke and Udd Jaa Kaale Kaava.

Talking to Bombay Times, he spoke about why he felt letdown. We also reached out to filmmaker Anil Sharma and Gadar 2 composer Mithoon for their side of the story. Here’s what they had to say:

Composer Uttam Singh says, “Yeh gaane toh aise hain ki aagar koi dholak leke bhi baja dega toh bhi hit honge, because of their melody and lyrics. They may have given me the credit, but credit dena is not all. They should have told me they were using my songs. Not only songs, puri film mein mera likha original background music use hua hai. Maan mariyada bahut badi cheez hoti hai and Hindustan mein iska bahut value hai. Inhone na maan rakha, na mariyada rakkhi. Creative right bahut badi cheez hoti hai, duniya bhar mein, it is a big thing. This was very bad on the part of Anil Sharma. Hum jab kisi ka kaam use kartein hain, toh hamara farz banta hai ki hum usse puchein toh sahi. Kam se kam puchna toh chahiye. Mujhe koi fark nahi pada, log keh rahain hain ki yehi do gaane chal rahein hain. Mujhe badi khushi hoti agar aap naya kaam kartein. I am not saying anything wrong about anybody, I’m just stating facts and truth. When people would come to me for background music, I would ask them to get a letter from the composer allowing me to work on the BG music for that particular film. This was the culture of our Hindi music industry. Bollywood has ended all this.”

Mithoon, who has composed the music of Gadar 2, says, “The rights are with the label and technically, the original music composer’s permission to recreate the songs is not needed. But I had told the makers to talk to the original creator and I ensured that he was given due credit. Anil Sharma ji told me that he had spoken to the original creator and shown him my work. I was told that Uttam ji had liked what had been done. So, I am wondering why this kind of conversation is happening now. I have a legacy of original music and I enjoy doing that. Anil ji had come to me with the concept of Gadar 2, and he wanted these songs to be recreated because the makers said it was the creative requirement of the film. When I heard the script, I understood that the story could not be told without these two melodies. Then, as an artiste I showed respect to fellow artistes by retaining Udit Narayan’s vocals, the poetry of Anand Bakshi saab, as well as the music by Uttam ji. In fact, the film starts with an acknowledgement note for both creators – Uttam ji and Bakshi saab. Before Gadar 2 was released, we had a success meet for Udd Jaa Kaale Kaava. Uttam ji was invited, but he wasn’t present there.”

On his part, director Anil Sharma says, “I showed Uttam ji all the songs. Mujhe hairani hai ki unhone ab aisa statement diya hai. Technically, the rights were with the label. Mera aur Uttam ji ka dil ka rishta hai aur yeh sab sunkar mujhe bahut hairani hai. I still can’t believe it. Now that I know about this, I will definitely speak to him.”