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June.28.2009 This week's update, for a change, is not about an instance of plagiarism. It is about a change, however small it is, that has happened (again, after minor such changes in the past) with one of the most discussed composer in ItwoFS' forums - Pritam. Yes, Pritam's latest soundtrack, Love Aaj Kal carries 3 credit notes to sources, even if they're small and not the core tune's inspiration. The first song with a credit is 'Twist'. The credit reads, 'Courtesy Saregama (India) Ltd., for the Instrumental hook of the song Twist from Mandole - Nagin, composed by Hemant Kumar'. The second is 'Aahun aahun'. The credit reads, 'Kadi te hass bol ve', lyrics and melody traditional. And the third, 'Ajj din chadeya tere rang varga' - Original line by Shiv Kumar Batalvi. This is EXACTLY what ItwoFS has been crying hoarse about, for nearly 10 years now. When Sandeep Chowta did it years ago, in the soundtrack for Mast and Pyar tune kya kiya ('Main tere dil ki mallika' and 'Raundhe hain' respectively - both listed in the page for Sandeep Chowta), it was mere lip-service - or, perhaps the record label goofed despite clear instructions by the composer. Pritam did it too - in Brahm. But, the main difference between all those instances of official crediting Vs this one? Its the fact that, in at least the first 2 cases, the credit is for a relatively smaller portion of inspiration - in case of Twist, its almost a case of sampling a musical piece, while in Aahun aahun, the inspiration builds on to the core tune. I cannot comment on the third though, since I'm yet to listen to the original piece. I concluded my 200 word review (Vs 100 word reviews, which is my standard, in Milliblog) of Love Aaj Kal, with a 'Take a bow, Pritam'. That was for the impressive music. Now, let me say, 'Hats off, Pritam'. This is for turning over a new leaf - or at least showing all signs of turning over a new leaf. This is indeed a landmark moment in ItwoFS' history. I should also add Eros Music to in this instance. The record label is equally responsible for bringing this change. This fosters a sense of partnership with other composers and not rivalry. Its almost akin to the hyperlinking trend in social media - when I like a particular blog post, for instance, I link to it and build on it by adding my opinion. Similarly, in music, a composer shows that he's not insecure by freely acknowledging his source and letting his audience listen to both the source and his own interpretation, thereby displaying his talent! June.20.2009 @ Pritam has responded to the allegations of plagiarism in Hai Junoon, in Calcutta Times (JPG, online link) - to the same journalist who first broke the story in mainstream media. At the outset, I have to appreciate Pritam for being sincere in his responses - he may have sounded very vague in an earlier show by Karan Thapar on this topic - but here, he sounds confident, specific and honest. A few clarifications - as someone managing a plagiarism tracking website, I need to be honest and fair too and not pander to emotional allegations, based on past track record. When Pritam says, "Hai Junoon doesn’t match in terms of notes with Naluri Lelaki", I completely agree. This instance is perhaps one of the weaker allegations against Pritam since he has far more blatant cases of plagiarism to highlight as breaking news. Before this case went online in ItwoFS, I had two mails from ItwoFS readers informing me the same. I listened to both the tracks closely and was not entirely convinced of its addition in ItwoFS - this is the truth. Then, I got a mail from another ItwoFS reader, Ajit Gopalakrishnan, which explained Pankaj's role - then, I was both convinced and interested. Here was a musician alleging the same thing - that's quite different from others indicating a similarity. Plus, the whole angle of a musician calling out another is very, very new! That is one of the main reasons why Hai Junoon went online in the site. Pritam also says, "I told myself: ‘Don’t touch an English song since people have heard it’. I thought it would be better to be inspired by obscure songs without realising that the Internet has made the world smaller and even the most obscure song can easily be traced". This totally shocks me, but I feel glad that an A-league composer actually had the guts to accept this so openly. Unlike, say, a Anu Malik who's standard response was how the percentage of lifts in his illustrious career (again, it indeed is illustrious - but, that's beside the point when it comes to allegations of plagiarism) is so miniscule. And when he says, "Since the past one year, I’ve been consciously trying to reform and not be influenced. There will be exactly three embarrassing moments ahead for me", the positive approach is definitely commendable, though I'd sure like to get to the bottom of those 3 songs' obscure sources! On a more personal note, given that I wear two hats - the ItwoFS hat, where I dissect musical similarity from a layman point of view; and the Milliblog hat, where I share my personal opinion on music, I have to add that I'm first an ardent music lover, who is simply curious about some songs' origins. Its that curiosity that has grown into ItwoFS. And, I really do not listen to every piece of music trying to find its source or doubt its originality - it usually just happens! Yes, plagiarism is a bane in this country, but that shouldn't stop a music lover from enjoying his music. I like Pritam's music and look forward to his Love Aaj Kal - more so because its Imtiaz's film. But as always, I'd be the first one to condemn a lift even in that soundtrack, if I were to find a convincing instance. June.16.2009 @ The Pritam Vs Pankaj Awasthi imbroglio makes it to Hindustan Times Cafe, Mumbai! See here - JPG June.14.2009 @ Update! The news has made it to Times of India, Calcutta Times (JPG scan)! Pankaj has spoken extensively against Pritam's plagiarism too, in the article. But, it looks like a lot of strings have been pulled in the background - Pankaj's comment in YouTube is missing, today. It only says, 'Comment removed by author'! Will Pankaj continue to stay in the movie, as composer of his sole song? See screenshot of Pankaj Awasthi's comment | Comment removed I anticipated all this when I broke the news on Friday - quite obvious. Was Pankaj so naive to think that nobody would have noticed his message to Samsons? That too, on a public forum like YouTube? But yes, Pankaj may not be the first person to point out the similarity - the inspiration seems to have been mentioned by someone named 'nickname2121' at least 4 months ago, as a comment in the YouTube version of New York's theatrical trailer. So, Pankaj may not be that insider who heard the song being copied in the studio and pointed the band to the act. He may have merely reiterated it! See screenshot of the earlier comment (link)on Hai Junoon's similarity with the Indonesian song! Will this whole drama impact his career? What is Pritam and director Kabir Khan's reaction to all this? (In my best Ashok Kumar impersonation...) Aur yeh sab dekhenge, agle hafte, hum log! June.12.2009 @ This week's update is terribly interesting. And juicy too! First, the interesting part. Pritam. Latest soundtrack. You know, right? Pritam's latest soundtrack is New York, from Yash Raj stable. A song from the film, 'Hai Junoon' is in the eye of a storm now, for being allegedly inspired by, what else, another Indonesian song! If I'm allowed to digress, let me blurt it out - I'm both eager and scared to listen to Pritam's music in Imtiaz Ali's next - Love Aaj Kal. The Milliblog me will be really excited to listen to the music, while the ItwoFS me will dreading more Indonesian inspirations! Back to New York's Hai Junoon - yes, I think the song definitely has traces of Indonesian band Samsons' song, 'Naluri Lelaki', from their 2006 album of the same name. But, Pritam seems to have mastered this art by now - the na nanana naa na na part in the beginning of the Hindi track seems inspired, as is a small portion in the Indonesian original that corresponds to the Hindi's 'Hai Junooooon' call. This is nowhere near the more blatant lifts from our favorite composer, but inspirations should be mentioned where its due! Now for the juicy part. The first person to have supposedly exposed this inspiration is also a music composer. A composer who has also been credited in the same film, New York - for the song, 'Aye saaye mere'...yes, Pankaj Awasthi. This YouTube link of 'Naluri Lelaki' has a comment by a user named, 'awasthiji', who has also posted the video of the song, 'Khuda ka wasta', by, who else...Pankaj Awasthi. That lends more authenticity to the fact that the comment is indeed by Pankaj. Also note - the timeline for his comment says, 'posted 1 week ago' - New York's soundtrack was released on June 11th (Milliblog music review of New York, on June 11th), so, only an insider could have listened to the song even before its release and go to the extent of commenting on its source! So, why is Pankaj doing this? Doesn't he like Pritam? Will this not spoil his chances of making it big in the dog-eat-dog world of Bollywood? This is big breaking news baby! Thanks to leads from Ayman Ahmad and Ajit Gopalakrishnan - brilliant find and very timely, guys! Listen to Hai Junoon | Naluri Lelaki June.01.2009 @ Back after a long break - blame it partly on work and an overdose of mails to check with regard to plagiarism. Let's start the innings with our perennial favorite - Nadeem Shravan. They were the chosen ones to compose music for the acting debut of Kajol, in 1992 - the film, Bekhudi. One of the songs from the film, 'Mujhe kya pata tera ghar hai kahan' seems to be a replica of a Pakistani song, 'Nahi kuch pata'. Even the lyrics are exactly similar, in meaning and the choice of words! The original was from the film, 'Basera' (1984) and was sung by Nahid Akhtar. The music composer was someone Nadeem and Shravan by now owe a large chunk of their careers to....M.Ashraf. I really hope and wish M.Ashraf's estate/ family is reading this and other instances listed in ItwoFS and take suitable action against the composing duo for all the memorable hits they've lifted from this amazing Pakistani composer - Bahut naainsaafi hai ye, bahut naaeinsaafi! Thanks to Canakida2's message in the ItwoFS Yahoo Group for the info - Canakida is one heck of an enthusiastic and informative source of quite a few lifts listed in this site - thanks again, pal. I may not be responding to your many messages - but ultimately hope to do justice to most of 'em! Listen to Mujhe kya pata | Nahi kuch pata May.09.2009 @ This week's update is a true revelation! I mean...Alan Parsons in Hindi! Yeah! Ok, if you're a long time reader of ItwoFS, guess the Hindi composer fast! Which composer/ duo lifts from usually obscure sources that you think may just not suit Hindi songs? If you said Jatin Lalit, pat yourself - you're bang on. The film, Haasil (2003). Song? Aankhon main tumhari! The source? The Alan Parsons Project's 'Psychobabble' from their 1982 album, 'Eye in the sky'! Hard to believe huh? To give credit where its due, Jatin Lalit 'use' just the first two lines of the original - albeit blatantly - and work their way from there, in their inimitable style. The Hindi tune is very, very Jatin Lalit'ish - the sudden outburst in 'Baahon mein na tume ho' is something that one instantly associates with their musical style. Pretty interesting lift, this! Psychobabble was the first song to be recorded in the commercially super successful 'Eye in the sky' album and was composed almost a year before any other song was recorded in this album. Thanks to Anirudh Bhatt for this incredible information. Listen to Aankhon mein tumhari | Psychobabble @ The 2nd update this week isn't a lift at all. In fact, this update is merely to satisfy my curiosity. I reviewed a Kannada soundtrack last week for Milliblog - Thaakath, by composer Gurukiran. Its a fun soundtrack, with four very enjoyable tracks, but one track, 'Raiyya Rai' had an interlude that I couldn't get out of my head. It was very Scottish - bagpipe, I suppose. Listen to Raiyya Rai Interlude The tune of this interlude was very familiar. My mind said, 'Jaaneman' (Anu Malik's)...I really do not know why! Then, I got what I was looking for - a very prominent prelude/ interlude from a Tamil song, 'Poovinai' from Aanandha Thaandavam. Music by GV Prakash Kumar. Listen to Poovinai Prelude/ Interlude Do you hear anything similar? Is that a known Scottish tune merely used as-is? By the way, that Jaaneman thought seems vaguely right too - GV Prakash Kumar was alleged to be the original composer of Jaaneman! May.03.2009 @ Who would have ever thought Tracy Chapman's music is relevant for Indian films? Telugu composer Manisharma sure think so and crafts an fabulous title track for the Mahesh Babu super hit, Athadu. The song, 'Adharaku', uses the main tune of Tracy Chapman's 'Montains o'Things', from her eponymous 1988 debut album. Its a nifty piece of plagiarism, uncredited, of course, but very interestingly done. Thanks to Sohan Madhav for the info. Listen to Adharaku (Athadu title song) | Mountains o'Things @ Mid-Day's April 22nd story was about how the Karan Johar produced, Tarun Mansukhani directed Lead India awareness film was plagiarized from the Leonardo DiCaprio produced '5 Friends' public service announcement (PSA). The similarities are uncanny. 1. The original PSA had a plethora of Hollywood stars, just like the Indian video. 2. The backdrop is minimal/ bleak - the original's was white, while it was pitch black for the Indian version. 3. Both videos start with the negative - the original says, 'Don't Vote', while the Indian video says, 'Kuch nahi ho sakta' and moves on to create a positive tone and explain the importance of voting. 4. There is a definite, on-screen call-to-action in the original. This is something the Indian makers thought may not work in India. They could have perhaps thought of a 'sms-this-message-to-five-friends', no? Noble intention, huh? So, plagiarism can be overlooked, right? Wrong! Why? Because Tarun Mansukhani chooses to lie over the fact that the video is copied. He's quoted in Mid-Day assaying, "I have not seen the Don't Vote campaign and know nothing about it. I don't think we need to emulate the Americans as we are capable of addressing out issues on our own. The motive behind making Kuch Nahi Ho Sakta was simple that people should watch it and realise the importance of their vote". What a load of crap! Karan doesn't want to pay the creators of original, but at least make an effort, damn it. To acknowledge the source. Instead of lying through your teeth. And making all your message utterly meaningless. Disgusting example set by Karan/ Tarun. Watch Kuch nahi ho sakta | 5 Friends | 5 More Friends April.27.2009 @ OK, false alarm on the Jeena Yahan story! As tons of people who wrote to me...Satish Shah is merely singing the same song, in Marathi. That's it. Thanks to v9y, Vishwa Deepak, Attar Mohammed, Viplove Gupte, AK, Anand Silodia and Rahul Chutkay for the update! I seriously underestimated the number of ItwoFS visitors! April.26.2009 @ I'm personally ashamed at even adding this lift to ItwoFS, but a site's gotta do what a site started. Nadeem Shravan's Rang is one of my personal favorites - it has fabulous melodies like Teri mohobbat ne, Tujhe na dekhoon to chain, Tumhein dekhen meri aankhen, Dil cheer ke dekh and Har sawaal ka jawaab. But, it also has a horrendous take on Culture Club's cult hit, 'Karma Chameleon'! But, this is of course not Hindi cinema's first lift from Karma Chameleon. That privilege goes to Bappi Lahiri for his 1986 number, 'Tera mera' from Shart. Both track sare unabashed and stupid lifts of the original. Such multiple lifts actually make a mockery of the listeners! Thanks to Yaju Arya for the lead on Shart's lift and Santosh Kumar for the lead on the Rang lift! Listen to Tera mera | Coming coming | Karma Chameleon @ The next update this week is very, very interesting. One of ItwoFS' oldest visitors, Sambodh Kaul wrote to me about the possible original for Mera Naam Joker's super hit song, 'Jeena yahan marna yahan'. Even though this track has shades of the Danube Waltz, its quite possible that the tune has a direct original. Proof? Sambodh sent me a video clipping from the Ramsay Brothers classic horror film, Purani Haveli (1989), in which comedian Satish Shah is seen singing the tune of 'Jeena yahan' in an unidentified language - watch the video! Now, this could be his take (being a comedian) on the classic in plain gibberish or he could actually be singing the actual original. Are you able to identify the language? Or is it just nonsense verse? Let me know. April.19.2009 @ Last year, we had identified a few compositions as the source of Pritam's title song of Bhool Bhulaiyya. The catchy ('Hare Ram Hare Ram') hook was supposedly (according to me!) from Bill Hailey's Oriental Rock, while the opening (prelude) was from hiphop group, JTL's 'My lecon'. Now, the Korean allegation seems believable given Pritam's history of lifts from that country. But, the Oriental Rock part has some more history. It was - as mentioned earlier - from an album titled, 'Rock around the world', which is based on public domain folk songs from around the world. Wikipedia notes a few examples - "London Bridge is Falling Down" was rewritten as "Piccadilly Rock"; "Come Rock With Me" was based upon "O Sole Mio". The 'Oriental Rock' perhaps alludes to a Chinese original, because of the word, 'oriental', but it looks like it has a Middle Eastern connection, more than oriental! The song, 'Streets of Cairo', as noted in depth by Shira.net is a replica of the Bill Haileys' track. Cairo? Oriental? Where's the disconnect? And it gets worse...this track also reminds you (oh it will!) of '...mili ek ajnabee se' from Chalti ka naam gaadi's 'Ek ladki bheegi bhagi si'!! Whoa! So, here are the facts, 1. We have a song titled 'Streets of Cairo', who's composer is unknown. 2. Its tune is used by Bill Hailey for a track titled, 'Oriental Rock'. 3. Its prominent hook reminds one of Pritam's Bhool Bhulaiyya title song hook. 4. The second part of the hook reminds one of Chalti ka naam gaadi's 'Ek ladki bheegi bhagi si'. This is one murky mess that I'd love to hear more about. I hope I'm able to trace the foundation of this song before I breathe my last - it'd be nothing short of an epiphany for me! Thanks to Jamshid Mahmood (direct link connecting Oriental Rock and Streets of Cairo), johnnylubber and Arul Isai Imran (both got to Streets of Cairo from a Delta Faucet commercial - windows media video file - 1.55 MB) for the lead. Listen to Streets of Cairo (MIDI file courtesy, Shira.net) | Oriental Rock @ And, thanks for the responses from Abhishek Das, Viplove Gupte, Sikander Fayyaz and Sadiq Siddiqui over last week's query on 'Baith mere paas' from Yaadon Ki Kasam. The song is indeed Ghulam Ali's Punjabi ghazal, 'Baija mere kaul'. Listen to Baith mere paas | Baija mere kaul Permanent posts! @ I've been trying to trace the originals of the following songs - any info that you think would help, please do mail me. - Chalte Chalte - Chalte Chalte [Bappi Lahiri] - Supposed to be lifted off a German folk song. - Anari - Woh chand khila [Shankar Jaikishen] - A very popular western classical piece, has also been used as a background piece by A R Rahman in the movie 'May Madham'. @ Also refer to this page, which says, "He (Raj Kapoor) never hesitated to adapt tunes (such as 'Is libe dis, I love you' and 'Dost dost na raha', both in 'Sangam') which had appealed to him". So what are the sources of these tracks? If you know, lemme know! @ This is more of a personal search than about a lift...it could be a possible lift too, btw! The song from the Maniratnam production, 'Five Star'...titled 'Rayile rayile' has a generous sprinkling of some world music stuff. For some reason Azerbaijani music pops in my mind, though its only a wild guess. Could anybody recognize the style/ country of this music? It can be heard in the one of the sites below! Raaga | Smashhits | Musicindiaonline (5th song) Please do mail me in case you have these tracks or know more about these! Enter your search terms Web itwofs Submit search form Hindi Anu Malik Anand Milind Anand Raaj Anand Bappi Lahiri Jatin Lalit Kalyanji Anandji Laxmikant Pyarelal Nadeem Shravan OP Nayyar Pritam Chakravarty Rajesh Roshan RD Burman Salil Chaudhry SD Burman Sandeep Chowta Sanjeev Darshan Shankar Jaikishen Hindi - others Tamil A R Rahman Deva Ilayaraja Karthikraja Yuvan S. Raja Tamil - others Assorted Coincidences Indipop Advt. jingle lifts Telugu Trivia

Disclaimer and help on audio files: The site demonstrates similarities in music, usually compared between an Indian composition with that of a composition from another part of the world or within India. The final interpretation on what constitutes a similarity is entirely my assumption. The similarity thus deduced is not based on a purely scientific basis like note-to-note comparison nor am I musically knowledgeable enough to do that. The attempt here is to merely showcase similarities that are obvious to a normal person with no/ limited musical sense, in other words, the lowest common denominator basis for understanding similarities. This is also the reason why I use the terms 'lift', 'copied' or 'plagiarized' and not 'infringed' since this site is not ideally conceived as a legal proof for music plagiarism. The Audio files included here are for demonstration purposes only and are merely edited clippings, mostly lasting not more than 30 seconds. The quality in which they are edited is also ensured to be minimal so that they may not replace actual, full fledged digital versions. The clips are not meant to infringe any copyright whatsoever. Please download and install the free Real Player to listen to these song files.

© Karthik S, 2009. The content of ItwoFS.com is under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License. You may use/ quote/ reproduce content from this site provided you add a link back to the index page of this website (http://www.itwofs.com) next to the portion used/ quoted/ reproduced.