EXCLUSIVE| Sukhwinder Singh denies Ram Gopal Varma’s claim that he composed Jai Ho, not AR Rahman: I only sang it

He said that singer Sukhwinder Singh, who has sung Jai Ho as well, ghost composed it and Rahman merely got the credit. But HT City reached out to Singh himself, and he has completely refuted this claim. Jai Ho was originally composed for filmmaker Subhash Ghai’s Salman Khan starrer Yuvvraaj (2008).

“AR Rahman has composed the song, I have only sung it. Ram Gopal Varma ji koi chhoti hasti toh nahi hain, shayad unhe kuchh galat pata chala hoga,” he starts off, “Gulzar sahab had written this song, Rahman liked it. Then he composed it in my studio in Juhu, Mumbai. He made Subhash ji listen to it. I had not sung the song till that point of time.”

Ghai, he adds, while praising the song, didn’t want it for his film. “He said the character for whom he wanted a song had become naughty in the story, this song wasn’t fitting. He wanted a more masaledaar song. He told Rahman, but he insisted that this was nice. I too said ‘thode changes kar do’, but Subhash ji said poora gaana hi alag chahiye. Then he left, Rahman left. I was sad. I requested Gulzar sahab to stay back for 10-15 minutes. He asked why, to which I replied he has written it so well, let me try singing. Naachte kudte maine gaa diya. It was the same Jai Ho you listen to today. I sent it across to Rahman sahab, who in turn made it listen to Danny Boyle, director of Slumdog Millionaire. Rahman also kept his promise and gave another song to Subhash ji for Yuvvraaj,” he shares.

Singh feels had he sung and then made Subhash ji listen to Jai Ho, the decision would have been different. “Awaaz ka bhi asar hota hai. Danny Boyle ko meri awaaz mein pasand aa gaya. Gaate huye thoda bauahut tadka toh khud lagana hi padhta hai, maine mauj ke liye gaake Rahman ko bheja tha, ki shayad kisi film mein kaam aa jaaye. Mujhko lagta hai shayad agar Subhash ji ko gaake sunaya hota toh baat alag hoti. Aadhe ghante mein I had recorded Jai Ho,” he beams.