Priyanka with Ram Charan: Apart from being the remake of the superhit 1973 film, Zanjeer is creating a buzz for its pairing. Ram Charan is all set for his Bollywood debut by stepping into Big B's shoes. He will be romancing Priyanka Chopra, who will be seen in another Amitabh Bachchan remake after Don and Agneepath. This pairing has a very raw appeal to it.
The makers wanted to reprise the song, but failed to acquire the rights from the music label HMV (now known as Sa Re Ga Ma). An insider reveals that the music label laid down bizarre conditions: the producers of the remake would either have to shell out Rs. 40 lakh for just one track, or give Sa Ra Ga Ma rights to the entire soundtrack of the new film (the remake’s soundtrack is to be released by T-Series). The makers did not agree to either.
When contacted, director Apoorva Lakhia says, “HMV has the rights and the price they are quoting is very high. We couldn’t afford it.” The remake features Sanjay Dutt as Sher Khan (Pran’s character), the character on whom the qawwali number is picturised in the original. The remake will now have to feature a different number. “Bhusan Kumar (head of T-Series) has already selected a new qawwali song. We haven’t decided on a music director yet,” says Lakhia. The music for the original film was composed by Kalyanji-Anandji.
The remake of Zanjeer, also starring Priyanka Chopra, is set to hit theatres on May 10.