The producers of Raveena Tandon’s film Maatr have confirmed that Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan won’t be appearing in a special music video as planned earlier, reports India Today.
The producer of the film, Anjum Rizvi told reporters, “It would’ve been ideal if we could, but unfortunately at this stage, it’s not happening.”
The filmmakers will now be featuring Raveena’s scene from the film in the music video instead of Rahat’s.
However, speaking at the trailer launch of Maatr, the actress shared that she feels art and culture should not face restrictions.
“As far as I am concerned, I feel art, culture, music have no boundaries. Music is something which flows from within, has no walls, you can’t conceal it. Once the sound, musical notes are out you can’t control it.”
On the other hand, music composer Vipin Patwa fought to keep Rahat’s track ‘Rog Jaane’ for Akshara Haasan’s upcoming film, Laali Ki Shadi Mein Laddoo Deewana while the makers wanted to drop the song to avoid controversy.
Speaking to Mid-Day, Vipin revealed, “I thought replacing his voice would be disrespectful. I managed to convince the makers to retain his version. [There would be room for controversy] if we had recorded the number post September [after the Uri attacks].”
When contacted, the film’s producer, TP Aggarwal, admitted they wanted to “play safe”.
“We didn’t want to offend anyone. The song is amazing, right from the composition, to the lyrics, and then there is the brilliance of Rahat saab’s voice.”
However, Rahat has collaborated with Sonu Nigam for Vidya Balan’s Partition movie, Begam Jaan.*