Ismail Darbar on his past remarks about Pritam and AR Rahman, ‘I never apologized for saying anything to anyone’

Music composer Ismail Darbar has been making headlines for his recent statements on various topics. In a new interview, he opened up about his earlier remarks about AR Rahman and Pritam, and also shared his thoughts on the current music scene.In a conversation with Vickey Lalwani, when asked about his equation with Pritam, Ismail Darbar said, “The whole rift happened because I called him ‘chor’ once. Since then, he has been miffed with me.”The composer further shared that all musicians “steal music,” and according to him, “no one is walking the straight line.”Darbar went on to say that although he has done the same, he has always been honest about it. “Even the ‘Kalank’ song was an imitation, which I got to know later. I thought, ‘Faltu call kar diya’ (Called Pritam unnecessarily),” he admitted.In the same interview, when asked about his comments on AR Rahman winning the Academy Award for Slumdog Millionaire, the host recalled Darbar’s earlier accusation that Rahman had bought his award. Addressing that, the composer said, “They (the Academy) called me up and told me that they were going to charge me with slander and asked me to give them proof of the claims I had made. I told them, ‘Come over here, and I will give you proof.’ No one ever showed up; everyone ran away.”Ismail Darbar further stated that people lack the courage to speak the truth. He added that he stands by everything he has said in the past. “I never apologized for saying anything to anyone. But I did relay a message to Rahman, apologizing for criticizing such an important achievement of his,” he said.