Lahari Music and T-Series have bought the music rights of SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus ‘RRR’ for a record Rs 25 crore, sources told Showtime.
It is said to be the costliest audio rights deal in the history of Indian cinema. Lahari and T-Series have acquired the music rights for all languages (Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and Malayalam) of the period action-drama.
The amount surpasses the record of ‘KGF: Chapter 2’ for which Lahari had paid Rs 7.2 crore.
“We have never shied away from taking risks,” Lahari Velu, director of Lahari Music, told Showtime.
“In 1987, when we bought the rights to the Kannada film ‘Premaloka’ for Rs 4.5 lakh, people thought we were crazy. But the film became a blockbuster hit. Four years later, we bagged the music rights of Mani Ratnam’s Tamil film ‘Thalapathi’ for Rs 75 lakh and the industry predicted our downfall. Thankfully, that album from Ilaiyaraaja was a huge hit,” he recalls.
The bidding for the rights of ‘RRR’ went on for more than three months, given that ‘Baahubali’, from the same director, had become a box-office sensation.
“This is the longest we had to wait to sign a deal. It took almost 100 days to seal the rights as big companies like Sony Music were in the race. But we were confident of winning it. We share a great relationship with director Rajamouli and music director M M Keeravani. We are happy to be associated with them again,” Velu says.
The producers have spent close to Rs 400 crore on the film. It boasts a big cast of Jr NTR, Ram Charan, Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn. So Lahari was aware the stakes were high, he says.
The film’s first song is set for a release on Sunday. ‘RRR’ is scheduled for a worldwide theatrical release on
October 13.