G V Prakash, A R Rahman's talented nephew, is not exactly a happy man at the moment. The teenage composer finds himself dragged into a controversy regarding the music of Jaan-E-Mann.
"I am only the music arranger, not the composer," says Chennai-based Prakash.
The debate about who the film's composer was began when a Mumbai newspaper ran a report on Thursday focusing on rumours that it was Prakash who composed the music, not Anu Malik as the posters listed.
"The tunes are set by Anu Malik," clarifies Prakash, "and arrangements like the rhythm and flute are by me. Except for the tune, I did the rest of the music."
The soundtrack is already doing well on the charts, scoring Anu Malik his first hit of 2006.
The composer's career has not done well these last two years, thanks to the shadow cast by Himesh Reshammiya in the months following Aashiq Banaya Aapne.
Malik's last big hits were Murder and Main Hoon Na, both in 2004. 2005 and 2006 belonged to Reshammiya, who delivered a record 31 hits. Composers like Pritam (Dhoom 2) and Shantanu Moitra (Lage Raho Munnabhai) too got plum assignments.
rediff.com called and sent Malik text messages, asking for his side of the story, but the composer was unavailable for comment. All he told the Mumbai newspaper was, 'I swear I have composed all the songs for Jaan-e-Mann.'
When told about the report, Prakash -- non-controversial like his famous uncle -- says, "One shouldn't create a controversy over a non-issue."