It looks like Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Sadia Imam have found themselves in a bit of a tussle. Earlier this week, Imam claimed to have written the lyrics of a couple Khan’s songs. The songs, Jiya Dhadak Dhadak and Zindagi Ye Safar Main Hai were part of Bollywood movies Kalyug and Life in a Metro respectively, are considered some of the biggest hits of Khan’s career.
Imam disclosed this while appearing on a TV channel, and cited the reason being good friends with the singer for not speaking up earlier for credits. “Rahat told me that Sadia Ji, I cannot give you credits because he did not show in India that the lyrics were written by a Pakistani,” she said.
“I gave the lyrics to Rahat and the onus of giving me credits depended on his ethical values. Had I been given credits, both the songs would have remained under my name forever,” she added.
The revelation caused quite a spark for Khan, who was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by Oxford University yesterday. When The Express Tribune reached out to his team to address Imam’s claims, they were denied.
“It is in bad taste that when the whole world is celebrating Khan Saheb’s Doctorate from Oxford University, Ms. Imam would bring up something like this, that too after so many years,” Khan’s business director, Salman Ahmed said.
“Even if she still claims that she is the brain behind penning the songs then she is more than welcome to present any proof, confirming the same,” he added, while mentioning how they’d take legal action if the need arises.
Moreover, the song’s co-composer also deemed Imam’s claims as unwarranted. “These are baseless claims. The entire song was made in my presence. Rahat came up with the melody in a taxi. We then went to Rohail’s place where he arranged and made the music for the Bollywood hit single,” he said, further adding how lyricist Asim Raza wrote the lyrics immediately after.
