[Watch] Who Composed ‘Jai Ho’? This Filmmaker Has Rake Up Controversy

New Delhi: More than a decade after the movie Slumdog Millionaire was released and its song ‘Jai Ho’ became a patriotic song, a debate has begun over who actually composed the song although maestro AR Rahman has always been credited for it. But filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma’s sensational claims in a recent interview with HT City has left the internet confused.

In the interview, he said that singer Sukhwinder Singh, who has sung the hit song as well, ghost-composed it and Rahman merely got the credit. But HT City reached out to Singh himself and he completely refuted this claim. Jai Ho was originally composed for filmmaker Subhash Ghai’s Salman Khan starrer Yuvvraaj (2008).

“AR Rahman has composed the song, I have only sung it. Ram Gopal Varma ji koi chhoti hasti toh nahi hain, shayad unhe kuchh galat pata chala hoga. Gulzar sahab had written this song, Rahman liked it. Then he composed it in my studio in Juhu, Mumbai. He made Subhash ji listen to it. I had not sung the song till that point of time,” Sukhwinder was quoted as saying by HT City.

Although Ghai praised the song, he didn’t want it for his film. “He said the character for whom he wanted a song had become naughty in the story, this song wasn’t fitting. He wanted a more masaledaar song. He told Rahman, but he insisted that this was nice. I too said ‘thode changes kar do’, but Subhash ji said poora gaana hi alag chahiye. Then he left, Rahman left. I was sad. I requested Gulzar sahab to stay back for 10-15 minutes. He asked why, to which I replied he has written it so well, let me try singing. Naachte kudte maine gaa diya. It was the same Jai Ho you listen to today. I sent it across to Rahman sahab, who in turn made it listen to Danny Boyle, director of Slumdog Millionaire. Rahman also kept his promise and gave another song to Subhash ji for Yuvvraaj,” the singer shared.