After Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, the media called composer Ismail Darbar the next big thing in Hindi film music. And, I should say that was well deserved. The music was indeed very good. After a couple of not-so-good albums, he again came back with another good album - Devdas. After that, no-one hears of him except when he judges reality shows or when he makes ridiculous statements.

A few years back, he mentioned that he considers AR Rahman, his Guru.

"I call him (A.R.Rahman) Guru. He also respects me..." "I remember he won at two different award functions; he went on to win for Taal and Saathiya. See the humility in him... he called me through lyricist Mehboob and said that I deserved both the awards (for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas). That's why I respect him"

(from http://www.flickr.com/photos/arrahmanfans/377089831/)

But, before this interview, came this interview:
"My work has always been better than his. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam was better than Taal. Even Devdas was better than Saathiya.
But it is destiny that he got international fame. Angrezo ne uska haath pakad liya hai toh logo ko lagta hai ke yeh kuch zyada hi hai (Foreigners encouraged him so people think he is very good).
I am not saying this because of jealousy. This is the bitter truth. Whenever my work is good and he takes the awards, I feel bad.
I wonder why people run after name and fame, and not good work. Kyunki hamare yahan bahut kum akal ke log hai (we have very few intelligent people here). We see some foreigners holding someone's hand, and he becomes a big man."

(from http://in.rediff.com/movies/2005/mar/08minter1.htm)

Now, that we have seen what a two faced person Mr Ismail Darbar is, let's come to the latest controversy!

His recent allegations are the most ridiculous yet from him, the allegations being AR Rahman buying the Oscars, AR Rahman "stealing" credits, the entire industry being behind Rahman though they are "aware" of all this, the national awards committee flouting rules just so that they can give an award to Rahman.

If you think these are too ridiculous to be true, here's the interview published in Mid-Day.Lets look at these one by one and we'll see how non-sensical Mr Darbar's claims are!

So, he talks about Oscars being bought. What about the two Grammys? What about BAFTA and Golden Globe? And, BFCA Critic's choice and all the numerous other awards that AR got for Slumdog Millionaire? Paid money to the jury of every single of these academies? Laughable isn't it? Mr Darbar, what do you have to say?

And, Rahman stealing credits? This must be the biggest joke. Everyone in the music industry knows it was Rahman who introduced the system of crediting all musicians and harmony singers. He gives credits where due. So very often, we see harmony singers and musicians thanking Rahman for crediting them and making them known to the world! Mr Darbar, what do you have to say?

He says Saathiya pipped Devdas at the National Awards, and Saathiya was chosen despite it being a dubbed film. First of all, Saathiya was NOT a dubbed film. Second, AR never won a national award for Saathiya. Mr Darbar, what do you have to say?

What could be the reason for this sudden? There's news that he's joining politics. May be he's trying to garner some attention before his plunge into politics! Only Mr Darbar can answer!