Pakistani singer Abrar-ul-Haq said he will sue Karan Johar and T-series for using his song in the upcoming movie JugJugg Jeeyo. On Saturday, he said on Instagram and Twitter that he had not sold his song to anyone. He tweeted a link to a video that said, “Stop stealing our songs.” In the video, he said that crediting someone in a YouTube video isn’t enough to make up for taking their work. JugJugg Jeeyo will come out on June 24. It stars Varun Dhawan, Kiara Advani, Anil Kapoor, and Neetu Kapoor.
In the video posted on Saturday, Abrar-ul-Haq said, “A lot of fans have been asking me, ‘Why haven’t you gone to court against Karan Johar and T-Series for stealing your song Nach Punjaban? Yes, that’s the answer. Don’t worry, I’m going to court. Just saying that the credit has been given is enough to make their movie a hit, since the song is well-written. I never gave you the song, and I never let anyone else use it. It belongs to me, so I’ll get it back, and I’ll see you in court.”
In his social media posts, which he shared with the hashtag #StopStealingOurSongs, he also mentioned Karan Johar and the record label T-Series.
The Pakistani singer had tweeted earlier, on May 22, “I haven’t sold my song “Nach Punjaban” to any Indian movie, and if they use it without my permission, I’ll go to court to get my money back. Copy songs should not be used by producers like Karan Johar. This is the sixth time someone has copied one of my songs, which will not be allowed.”
T-Series later released a statement to dispute the singer’s claims. It said, “We have legally bought the rights to use the song Nach Punjaban from the album Nach Punjaban, which was released on iTunes on January 1, 2002, and is also available on Lollywood Classics’ YouTube channel, which is owned and run by Moviebox Records Label, for the film JugJugg Jeeyo, which was made by Dharma Productions.”
In the next tweet, the Pakistani singer made it clear that no one has been “licenced” to use his song, and if anyone tries to claim it, they must show an agreement to back up their claims. In his tweet, Abrar-ul-Haq threatened Karan again that he would go to court.
On May 27, actor Varan Dhawan also said something about the dance number and the problems that have been raised about it. “T-Series has said in a public statement that they have legally licenced the rights to do this. When you have global companies like YouTube and Spotify, I think… There are very strict laws about copyrights when people play music. It’s no joke. At a press event to promote JugJugg Jeeyo, he said, “All the steps have been taken.”
Raj Mehta is in charge of JugJugg Jeeyo, which is a movie made by Johar’s Dharma Productions and Viacom18 Studios. The song Nach Punjaban by Abrar-ul-Haq has the same tune as the song Punjaabban in the movie.