'We borrowed music for Rowdy Rathore'

Music director Wajid (of Sajid-Wajid fame) has declared that a part of the music in their Rowdy Rathore score is borrowed from the Telugu film Vikramarkudu.

"There is a signature tune in Vikramarkudu, which we couldn't avoid. It was an integral part of the theme in the Telugu film. Our producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali who has a strong understanding of music, director Prabhu Deva and my brother Sajid decided that we needed to incorporate that refrain in the Hindi remake," states Wajid, unapologetically, adding that there is nothing underhand about the appropriation.

Music directors Sajid Wajid

"We've taken the rights of the original music and we've used it. We've also changed the original tune completely, but we still want to draw attention to the borrowed bits before others jump in gleefully and accuse us of plagiarism."

Wajid volunteers that the borrowed riffs are fully paid for. "The right to use the original music has been officially bought. We didn't have to do that because we changed the original tune completely, but we didn't want to rob anyone of their rightful dues."

We'll never copy
There's an added reason why Sajid-Wajid decided to take the derivative root for Rowdy Rathore. "The Vikramarkudu score is by MM Kreem, and we're his fans. We agreed to borrow his tune only because it's an honour to be associated with him. Otherwise we maintain we'll never borrow let alone copy anyone's music. If anyone catches us doing so we are willing to apologise."