Ram Gopal Varma Calls AR Rahman ‘Nicest Human Being’ After Claiming He Didn’t Compose ‘Jai Ho’ Song; Filmmaker Says He Was ‘Misquoted’ (View Post)
An old interview video of Ram Gopal Varma (RGV) has gone viral where he claimed that Oscar-winning song 'Jai Ho' from 'Slumdog Millionaire', was composed by Sukhwinder Singh and not AR Rahman. Taking to his X (formerly Twitter) handle on January 21, the filmmaker issued a clarification regarding his statement and also showed support to Rahman.
Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, after alleging music composer AR Rahman of stealing Sukhvinder Singh's credit for "Jai Ho", has called music maestro as the “nicest human being.” Referring to the ongoing debate, Varma took to X on Tuesday to highlight that he was misquoted in the interview. Amid AR Rahman’s Communal Remark Controversy, His Son AR Ameen Calls Him ‘Legend for Life’ (View Post).
Further clarifying his stand, Varma wrote, “To all concerned... I am being misquoted and misread out of context in the matter of the Jai Ho song... in my view. @arrahman is the greatest composer and the nicest human being I ever met and he's the last person to take away anybody's credit... I hope this puts an end to the negativism surrounding the issue.”
Ram Gopal Varma’s Clarification Regarding ‘Jai Ho’ Song Comment Regarding AR Rahman – View Post
AR Rahman has been stirring headlines ever since he stated that his work in the Hindi film industry has slowed down over the last eight years, blaming “power shift” and “communal” politics in the entertainment industry. Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, in an old interview that resurfaced over internet and went viral, was heard claiming that AR Rahman was not the original brain behind the Oscar-winning song "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire, and that it originally was composed by singer Sukhwinder Singh.
In the old interview clip, Varma was heard narrating an incident linked to the film Yuvraj starring Salman Khan. He claimed that Rahman had sourced the tune from Sukhwinder Singh during a studio session and later sold the song, which eventually became Jai Ho. Varma further alleged that Sukhwinder was paid Rs. 5 lakh as compensation later through Rahman’s management. Director Laxman Utekar Explains Why He Chose AR Rahman for ‘Chhaava’ Music Amid ‘Communal’ Controversy.
Talking about Rahman’s controversy over his “communal” remark, the music composer had shared a video message on his social media account clarifying that he never intended to hurt sentiments and expressed regret if his words had caused pain to anybody.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 21, 2026 08:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).