Now, Ismail Darbar says sorry

Ismail Darbar, who had accused Rahman of ‘buying’ his Oscar, says he had no intention of hurting the Academy
After the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided not to take legal action against Ismail Darbar over his comments, deeming his claims to be too “ludicrous” to react to, the music director has apologised to the body, but only after making it clear that the aplogy is not because of the possibility of him being sued for USD 50 million.
Darbar says, “My intention was never to hurt anyone, or even to hurt the Academy. Mera maksad yeh bilkul nahin tha. Main insaaniyat ke naate sorry bol raha hoon. Agar Academy ne mujhe sue kiya hota, toh I’d never have apologized, even if they would have hung me. But since they’ve shown badappan, main bhi chhota ban ke unse apologise kar raha hoon.”
But he refuses to accept that the apology is because of a possible lawsuit. He says, “Dekhiye, main sorry ghabra ke nahin bol raha hoon. Main apni statement se bhi palat nahin raha hoon. Academy ka dil dukha, isliye main sorry bol raha hoon. Aur `250 crore kya hain – woh le jaayein, ya paise nahin mile toh mujhe hee utha ke le jaayein. Dekhiye maine maafi maangi aur upar wale ko yehi ada pasand hai.”
Darbar says that there’s no shame in apologising. “No one knows this but Sanjay Leela Bhansali and I had a fight after which we weren’t talking. But, ek tareekh ko mera janamdin tha aur main bindaas unse milne chala gaya. He’s my godfather, and I felt really nice meeting him. Usi tarah, Rahman se meri niji dushmani toh nahin hai. I felt something, so I said it as a friendly advice.” Even though Darbar says that he was encouraged by people after he gave this statement, he realised his folly. “Logon ne mujhe bahut shabaashi di, bahut chadhaya, par main bachcha nahin hoon. I understood where I was wrong. And that’s why I want to say sorry.”