I will not do something that is illegal: Sonu Nigam

Sonu Nigam

Owing to his stance on the music royalty issue, songs composed with Sonu Nigam are being re-recorded with other singers now.

Sonu Nigam

So while the singer's voice has been edited out of songs in David Dhawan's film, 'Main Tera Hero', word has it that his songs in the films 'Kick' and 'Heropanti' too will be re-recorded with another singer.

The singer says that he is not aware about being replaced in songs for the latter two films. He said, "I don't know who has sung my portion but I will not do something that is illegal. I have been fighting this injustice all along and change can be brought about only if others join me in this fight. I am not scared of being out of work because eventually good sense will prevail.''

Both Bhushan Kumar and Ekta Kapoor, co-producers of 'Main Tera Hero', refused to comment. When contacted, the former asked us to get in touch with the film's producer while Kapoor denied knowledge of any such development. It may be recalled that Nigam was recently replaced by Mohit Chauhan in Shekhar Suman's 'Heartless'.

Faced with such opposition, it seems that Sonu has found support in Subhash Ghai. The filmmaker, who is reviving his music label Mukta Music with his forthcoming film 'Kaanchi', has asserted that he will follow the copyright law and share royalty where it is due.

When asked whether he will allow Nigam to collect royalty for his songs, he was diplomatic about it. "I am going to study the law and will do everything in keeping with legalities."

When contacted, Sanjay Tandon, managing trustee of Singers Association of India, expressed anguish over Nigam being replaced for having taken a stand. "Producers and music companies are using such tactics because they don't want to adhere to the law. If this continues, we will be forced to take legal action against them," he said.