Filmmaker Karan Johar has reportedly got the rights to four recorded classics composed by the late Madan Mohan for his production "Bombay Talkies". He is said to have got them free of cost.

Karan will use the songs in the background of the film, said a source.

"Though the film will not have song-and-dance sequences, the music will be played in the background. Karan won't be using the whole songs in the film, just verses from them," the source added.

"Karan wanted rights to four songs, one of which is 'Ajeeb dastaan hain yeh' (which is also the title of Karan's part of the story in 'Bombay Talkies'). Saregama HMV, the label that owns the rights to the songs, gave them to Karan for free because the movie ('Bombay Talkies') celebrates 100 years of cinema. It was a sweet gesture," said the source.

"Bombay Talkies" is co-directed by four directors, including Karan, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee and Anurag Kashyap. The four directors have put together four short stories to make one project. The film is slated to release May 3.

The rights to Madan Mohan's unrecorded songs were last acquired by the late Yash Chopra for "Veer Zaara".