Mumbai Mirror

All India Radio recently sent a royalty cheque to Aamir Khan as they have been playing Lagaan's music since 2001. However, the actor returned the cheque to them stating that Sony Music is the rightful owner of the money

Mumbai, Oct 16: Aamir Khan was in for a surprise when he unexpectedly received a cheque from the All India Radio (AIR) at his office, recently. The Central Sales Unit of AIR sent a royalty cheque to Aamir as they had been playing Lagaan's songs for six years since its release in 2001.

However, Aamir, who produced Lagaan, returned the cheque back with a personalised letter stating that the film's music rights have been sold to Sony Music and the cheque should be sent to them.    

A source from the Central Sales Unit of AIR says, "We were very shocked to get the cheque back. So far, most production houses have only complained that they don't get any royalty for their music. We had sent 50 percent of the royalty amount to Aamir and 50 percent to Sony Music through our Delhi unit, Commercial Broadcasting Services. However we were surprised as this is the first time that a production house has sent back a cheque saying that the music company owns the rights of the music and they are the rightful owners of the royalty amount. We need more producers like him in the industry."

However, the source refused to divulge the amount of royalty that they had sent to Aamir Khan Productions.

Shanujit Bhujabal, Marketing and Acquisitions head Sonu Music, says, "I am not aware of this. Sony BMG owns the master recording and publishing rights of Lagaan's songs. But, it is a nice gesture at Aamir's end."