Rajshri bars FM channels from playing MPKDH songs

The Rajshri Group has decided not to allow any FM radio channel in India to play songs from its forthcoming film, Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon.

"We had taken this decision before the film's music was released," said Rajat A Barjatya, associate producer of the film. "But it is only now that people are becoming aware our songs are not being heard on the FM channels."

Asked if the move is helping the sale of MPKDH's cassettes and compact discs, Barjatya said, "We are fast approaching the one million figure. This is unheard of in today's market. People are going out and buying our music."

MPKDH is a film by Rajshri Productions, which earlier released superhits like Maine Pyaar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hai Koun..! and Hum Saath-Saath Hain. The music of these three films also became a huge hit.

Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor are playing the lead roles in MPKDH, while Abhishek Bachchan makes a special appearance. Unlike the earlier Rajshri hits, however, MPKDH's music has been composed by Anu Maliik, not Raam-Laxman.

Asked why the group is preventing the film's songs from being played on the FM channels, Barjatya said, "We were very clear from day one about this policy. We didn't want our music to be overexposed."

The songs are only being aired on All India Radio, which is being paid by Rajshri to do so as advertisement for the film.

Asked what Rajshri would do about Web sites that are offering the songs free on the Internet, Barjatya said, "Unfortunately, we cannot do anything about them. But we are discussing on a broad level how to deal with these people. We all have to unite and take action."