Sahir Ali Bagga backtracks from controversial statement about A.R. Rehman

After facing immense backlash, famed Pakistani musician Sahir Ali Bagga has backtracked from his statement proclaiming A.R. Rehman’s rating being similar to his, saying that he never said such a thing.

In a video uploaded recently, Bagga has clarified his stance over an interview he gave to Icon, where he completely has dismissed giving such a statement to the publication.

“There’s a statement under my name being circulated widely these days that says ‘A.R. Rehman is good but his rating is the same as mine’; I would like to clear that this is not my statement. Yes, I have given the interview to the magazine, but my words have been quoted out-of-context,” Bagga ascertains.

“I respect A.R. Rehman sahib a lot; he is one of the people I look up to. He is definitely an ustad [maestro] and a lot of people have learnt music from him including me. He is my senior and I love him a lot,” he adds.

The singer and music composer then went on to lament about people who project positive things in a negative light,  ‘including some of my friends too’, he says.

“However, it is good to see that they follow me, but this is not my statement,” Bagga reiterates once again in the end.

On Monday, Sahir Ali Bagga’s interview with a local publication started receiving severe ire after he was quoted as saying, “A.R. Rehman is good but has the same rating as mine.’”

“None of his songs have gotten 500 million hits. My song with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, ‘Zaroori Tha’ has crossed 500 million views,” he had stated  with excitement.

“Similarly, my song with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, ‘Main Tenun Samjhwan Ki’, is about to reach 1 billion views,” he added.