"Sadda Haq" is a song composed by A. R. Rahman for the 2011 Indian musical film ''

Rockstar Rock Star or Rockstar may refer to: Films * ''Rock Star'' (2001 film), an American film starring Mark Wahlberg * ''Rockstar'' (2011 film), an Indian Hindi-language film by Imtiaz Ali * ''Rockstar'' (2015 film), an Indian Malayalam-language fi ...

''. The film stars

Ranbir Kapoor Ranbir Kapoor (; born 28 September 1982) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi-language films. He is one of the highest-paid actors of Hindi cinema and has featured in ''Forbes India''s Celebrity 100 list since 2012. Kapoor is the re ...

and

Nargis Fakhri Nargis Fakhri (born October 20, 1979) is an American actress and model who primarily works in the Indian Hindi-language films. Her first role in film came with the 2011 romantic drama ''Rockstar'', for which she was nominated for Filmfare Award ...

in leading roles and is directed by Imtiaz Ali. The song features vocals by

Mohit Chauhan Mohit Chauhan (born 11 March 1966) is an Indian playback singer, known for his work in Hindi films. He was a part of the Silk Route band. Chauhan has received two Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer and three Zee Cine Award For Bes ...

and additional vocals by Clinton Cerejo and Arpit Gupta. The song also features

Orianthi Orianthi Penny Panagaris (born 22 January 1985), known mononymously as Orianthi, is an Australian guitarist, singer and songwriter who rehearsed in 2009 with Michael Jackson in preparation for his '' This Is It'' concert series, and performed wi ...

as a guitarist. The

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

, "sadda haq aithe rakh" is Punjabi for "give me what's mine, right here (and right now)".

Background

According to Rahman, ''Rockstar'' is "a character driven film" and hence he had to make use of rock music and guitars. While working on "Sadda Haq", the team (Rahman, Imtiaz,

Irshad Kamil Irshad Kamil (born 5 September 1971) is an Indian poet and lyricist. His songs appear in Bollywood films including ''Jab We Met'', '' Chameli'', '' Love Aaj Kal'', '' Rockstar'', ''Aashiqui 2, Raanjhanaa, Highway, Tamasha,'' and ''Jab Harry Me ...

and

) agreed that they needed a fantastic lead guitarist to justify the tempo and the lyrics of the song."MJ's female guitarist strums for Rockstar"

Recording

Rahman recorded the song in his

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

studio.

says, "I spent an entire day trying to record Sadda Haq with Rahman saab, and a sweet boy, Arpit Gupta, who helped me learn a rock tone. The next day, I did a take when he was yet to arrive and it sounded perfect."

Music video

The music video has

performing in front of a live audience. The video was shot mainly at the Norbulingka monastery in McLeod Ganj,

Dharamsala Dharamshala (; also spelled Dharamsala) is the winter capital of Himachal Pradesh, India. It serves as administrative headquarters of the Kangra district after being relocated from Kangra, a city located away from Dharamshala, in 1855. Th ...

, Antonio De Souza High School in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

and at Central Park in Connaught Place,

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

, showcasing the band performing to a packed audience. A group of 200 performers from

Shimla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After independence, the ...

who had worked with Imtiaz Ali during the shoot of "Yeh Ishq Hai" from ''

Jab We Met ''Jab We Met'' () is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Imtiaz Ali and produced by Dhilin Mehta under his banner Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision. The film stars Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor in their f ...

'' teamed up for Sadda Haq too. "While shooting for Rockstar in

Dharamshala Dharamshala (; also spelled Dharamsala) is the winter capital of Himachal Pradesh, India. It serves as administrative headquarters of the Kangra district after being relocated from Kangra, a city located away from Dharamshala, in 1855. The ...

Antonio Desouza high school for a concert sequence for Sadda Haq, Imtiaz suggested calling the same group of performers from

with whom he had worked during

,” says a source from the production team." Ranbir had travelled to

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

and stayed with Rahman for a week in order to "feel the song imbibe and absorb it" so that when he finally performs it, the song would be an "extension of his personality."

Reception

The song received immense critical praise. Mitesh Saraf of Planet Bollywood wrote, "It’s mad, it’s wild, and it’s strangely catchy, Sadda Haq, Aithe Rakh portrays the anguish and audacious Janardan (the protagonist of the movie, played by

) in the movie and is no short of being an anthem in the coming days, especially in case of protests. It takes a bit (1.30 minutes) of time to set the mood and the high point comes in the form of some bold lyrics thrown at society with

in a never-heard before high pitched voice which leaves the listeners stunned. The highly energetic Electric Guitar (Kudos to Rahman for selecting Orianthi) and Drums (

Ranjit Barot Ranjit Barot (born 1959) is an Indian film score composer, music director, music arranger, drummer and singer based in Mumbai, India. He is a longtime associate of A. R. Rahman. He has been described by guitar legend John McLaughlin as "one o ...

) provides an adrenalin rush and sweeps you off your feet."

Accolades

Controversies

Major parts of the song video were shot at the Norbulingka monastery in McLeod Ganj,

. People waving the Free Tibet flag in the backdrop was shown in the song video. This triggered a dispute between

Central Board of Film Certification The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...

and Imtiaz Ali when the Board ordered Ali to blur the flag and Free Tibet slogan before the film hit the theatre, but the director refused to do it. Imtiaz Ali said, "I am not concerned at all. I have been out of India for long and don’t know what's going on, but I don’t see anything controversial in the intention portrayal in the movie. The purpose of the movie is not to make any social message, it's more about personal freedom rather than a geographical issue.""'Sadda Haq' drags Imtiaz to controversy"
IndiaBlooms. 9 November 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2011. However, Ali had to remove the sequence from the video to get the film's censor done. Later an official from the Board revealed: "The Censor Board chief explained to them that all the cuts were made by the director voluntarily, and he had the option of appealing to a review board which he didn’t do. There were certain discussions between (Imtiaz) Ali and the Board regarding retaining a kiss between two actors (Ranbir and Nargis), but there have been no disagreement regarding deleting the flag from the frames." Deletion of the Tibetan flag from the video caused wide protests in

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

and

."Protests over Tibetan flag deletion In film continue"
/ref>

References

{{Reflist 2011 songs Songs with music by A. R. Rahman Songs written for films Indian songs Hindi film songs Hindi songs