When Rahman was accused of buying the Oscars. Rahman won double Oscars for his work in Slumdog Millionnaire. However, just like in the case of RRR where Rajamouli is accused of buying the Oscars, even Rahman was accused of buying the Oscars.
Music composer Ismail Darbar, speaking to Taran Adarsh at that time accused Rahman saying “Agar maine bola hai, toh bola hai. Jab se maine Rahman ka PR dekha aur music se door usse paaya, tab se mujhe usse chidd aagayi. Pehle main usse chahta tha kyunki lagta tha iss aadmi mein kuch baat hai, alag sochta hai. Lekin jab maalum pada ke yeh PR mein laga pada hai, ke kaise Oscar milna chahiye kaise Grammy milna chahiye, uske alawa usse aur kuch samajh nahi aa raha hai. Aur aap dekhiye uska kaam gadbad ho raha hai (I said what I said. When I noticed that Rahman was spending more time on PR than on his craft, I began to get annoyed by him. I used to like him initially, I thought that he was unique. But when I saw that he was only scheming about how to win Oscars and make waves abroad, I noticed that his work was suffering).”
In many interviews, he went on to accuse Rahman of buying the Oscars. He added “Jiss kaam ke liye upar waale ne bheja hai, jiss kaam ke liye duniya tumse pyaar karti hai, uss kaam ke saath beimaani toh mat karo yaar (Don’t disrespect your own talent),” But he withdrew his words when it came out that the Academy planned to sue him for his wild accusations.
Later Ismail Darbar went on to apologise saying “I am grateful that I have been respected in the industry for my work. I did say some things about Rahman, because as a friend I want to jolt him out of his reverie and start giving good music. I chose a public platform to do it, because he wouldn’t listen to me otherwise. I have nothing against the Oscars. It is the most respected award, the whole world acknowledges it, and I do, too. If any of them (Academy) are hurt by my comments, I apologise to them.”