Rajesh Roshan's Hindi version is an
excellent adaptation with some great lyrics! The Kingston Trio's version
is more closer to the Hindi version than the one by Flatts and Scruggs!
2
Marne
ke darr se [Film: Jurm (1990)]
The opening verses inspired by
Madonna's La isla bonita (1987).
Listen to the way Rajesh Roshan had
adapted the opening music and the 'haidi haidi ho' part together in the
Hindi version. The classical version has 'Hari om' instead of 'Idlee
do'!
6
Koi nahin tere jaisa [Film:
Keemat]
<TC>
From Rednex's Cotton eye joe!
Ditto copied!
7
Laaoon Kahan se [Film: Jaane
Jigar]
From Hotel California, by Eagles!
Sad!
8
Main Teri Hoon Janam [Film: Khoon bhari
maang]
<TC>
Ditto! The 1956 broadway musical 'My Fair Lady' - based on George Bernard Shaw's 'Pygmalion' - (later made into a movie in 1964) inspired two Hindi versions...'Man
Pasand' with Dev Anand and Tina Munim, and 'Dulhan Wohi Jo Piya Man
Bhaaye' with Rameshwari.
The music for the original was composed by Frederick Loewe. Check out
the other lift from My Fair Lady in Man Pasand - Item no. 28 in this
page!
12
Chaand sitaare [Film: Kaho naa pyaar
hai]
The humming was copied exactly from Voices by Vangelis!
But the main tune also seems to be
inspired - at least right now, from Rajesh Roshan's own 'Frenny O Frenny'
from the 1977 film, Khatta Meetha. Given the man's dubious
record, is there a super original? Does someone here know?
Let me know if you do
- as always, innocent until proven guilty even if its a
repeat offender like Rajesh Roshan!
14
Bharo maang meri bharo
[Film: Sabse bada khiladi (1995)]
Lifted from
Enigma's 'Hallelujah' (1990) from the album 'MCMXC a.D.'
Surely copied!
Tonci's composition itself sounds highly inspired by
Rossini's Overture to the Barber of Seville! Listen to
Overture
to Barber of Seville
16
Chookar mere man ko [Film:
Yaarana] <TC>
Inspired by the Rabindra Sangeet 'Tomar holo shuru amar...'
Yes, Rajesh does play around with his
own tune but the basic format of the song....rhythms, interludes et all
are lifted from Vangelis' tune! When will this man get over his Vangelis-fixation?
19
Tumhe kaise main bataoon [Film:
Dastak]
<TC>
Lifted from Petula Clark's 'Windmills of your heart'!
Absolutely inspired! Also refer to the
other two versions of the same original - by RD Burman (RDB Page - 18th
listing) and Salil Chowdhury (Hindi Others Page - 4th listing)
22
Na bole tum na [Film: Baaton baaton
mein]
<TC>
Inspired by the American Civil war song by Patrick Sarsfiled Gilmore, the "father of the American band", an Irish immigrant and the bandmaster of union army during American civil war.
The song goes 'When Johnny comes
marching home' (1863)
Music: From Irish street song "Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye").
'Iko iko' was written and recorded back
in the early 1950s by a New Orleans singer named James Crawford who
worked under the name of Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters. It was later
recorded in the 60s by the girl band, Dixie Cups and by the British
female band, Belle Chant in the 80s. Belle Chant's version was used in
the soundtrack of Barry Levinson's 'Rain Man'.
25
Jhilmil sitaaron ne kaha [Film: Khote Sikkey (1998)]
<TC>
A direct lift from the classic, 'Raindrops keep falling on my head'!
Ditto! The 1956 broadway musical 'My Fair Lady' - based on George Bernard Shaw's 'Pygmalion' - (later made into a movie in 1964) inspired two Hindi versions...'Man
Pasand' with Dev Anand and Tina Munim, and 'Dulhan Wohi Jo Piya Man
Bhaaye' with Rameshwari.
The music for the original was composed by Frederick Loewe. Check out
the other lift from My Fair Lady in Man Pasand - Item no. 11 in this
page!
29
Love at Times Square - Title Song [Film: Love at Times Square (2002)]
A riff lifted from the 80s hit 'Don't Go' by Yazoo.
It might just be a small riff, but its
used as-is, in my opinion. Incidentally Kalyanji Anandji is supposed to
have used the same riff in the title track of the 1985 film Yudh. Also,
Viju Shah is supposed to have unofficially contributed a lot to the
music of Yudh so it could be his doing too!
Trivia note on Yazoo: Yazoo (or Yaz in the US) was the duo of Vince Clarke and Allison Moyet. They released two albums, "Upstairs At Eric's " and "You and Me
Both". 'Don't go' was one Yazoo's biggest hits and was written in
1982 by Vince. It was released as a single in July 1982, and later appeared as the first track on Yazoo's debut album Upstairs At Eric's; released in September
1982. After they split up Vince Clarke formed Erasure with Andy Bell. Allison Moyet went on to release many well
received solo albums.
30
En panchiyon + Instrumental theme [Film: Koi Mil Gaya (2003)]
<TC>
Neat Lift, in true Rajesh Roshan
tradition. Trans-Europe Express was a song from Kraftwerk's 1977 album
of the same name.
Trivia notes:
Initially viewed as a quirky band of German nerds propounding the values of a mechanized state through systematic electronic pop music, Kraftwerk have gone on to influence countless genres and musicians, including the driving techno of Aphex Twin and Juan Atkins, the surreal ambient of the Orb and the rumbling hip-hop of Afrika Bambaataa and Public Enemy.
Formed by music conservatory students Ralf Hutter and Florian Schnieder in 1970, the pair went on to form permutations with various other artists, releasing albums such as
Kraftwerk, Kraftwerk 2, and Ralf And Florian. It was with electronic percussionist Wolfgang Flur and violinist Klaus Roeder that the band found their winning formula of mechanized beats and plainly electronic, but weirdly human-sounding melodies. Influenced by the Bauhaus school of German impressionism that existed before World War II, this group recorded Autobahn, which was an international hit with a single of the same name.
Hutter, ever the group spokesman, talked of having a band of instruments that could tour without human control, leaving the band to sunbathe or read. Through the remainder of the '70s, Kraftwerk released Radio-Activity, Trans-Europe Express (which Bambaata sampled for his ground breaking "Planet Rock"), The Man Machine (the accompanying tour featured robots on stage), Computer World (1981), Electric Cafe (1986), and The Mix (1991).
31
Kya
hai tumhara naam, Alladin Alladin [Film: Kaash (1987)]
<TC>
Adapted from the
track, 'Tevye's Dream' from Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
The song 'Kya hai
tumhara naam' from this movie had a rather interesting
premise - Jackie and his son in a fantasy/ dream sequence
complete with giants et all (from what I recall, since I
watched this movie ages ago in Doordarshan). And its again
strange that Rajesh Roshan sought inspiration for this song
from a track named, 'Tevye's Dream', that was part of the
1971 movie adaptation of 'Fiddler on the roof'! The basic
tune of the Hindi song seems to be adapted from Tevye's
Dream, but again both the songs have so much more than the
mandatory tune that I'd be forced to call it an adaptation.
Its quite possible that Mahesh and Rajesh together wanted to
create something along the lines of Tevye's Dream, both in
terms of content (though not completely) and in tune!
Trivia:
So what was Tevye's
Dream...and who was Tevye? A synopsis of 'Fiddler on the
roof' (FOTR) is necessary before we get into that. Tevye,
the protagonist of FOTR, is a Jewish milkman in Anatevka, in
Tzarist Russia, in the year 1905. Tevye has five daughters, itself a problem but what is more pressing is trying to find husbands for the eldest three children.
Yente, the matchmaker, does her best, but with no money, no dowry to offer she finds that her work is very difficult.
Tzeitel, the eldest daughter rejects the butcher Lazar Wolf, to whom Tevye has promised her. She has her heart set on
Motel, the tailor. The "new way" is that children shall decide partners for themselves but will Golde, Tevye's wife accept this change in traditional values?
[Sounds vaguely like Subash Ghai's 'Yaadien'? :-))]. Golde is persuaded and that is the first chink in the breakdown of traditional values. At the wedding ceremony between Motel and Tzeitel, there is a pogrom, an anti-Jewish demonstration, orchestrated by the Chief of Police which casts into doubt the stability of Jewish life in
Tzarist Russia.
Tevye's second daughter, Hodel, has fallen in love with Perchik, a political student, an activist against the repressive regime. Tevye refuses to give his permission for Hodel and Perchik to marry but they inform Tevye that they do not wish to seek his permission to marry but merely his blessing. Later, Perchik is arrested and is to be sent to Siberia. Hodel intends to join him. She promises her father they will be married, under a canopy, in the traditional Jewish way, Her father accompanies her to the railway station to bid her farewell.
Chava, Tevye's third daughter has fallen for Fyedka, a Russian soldier. Not only is he Russian, he is not a Jew and the bending of tradition this far is something that Tevye cannot reconcile himself to. From this point on, Chava ceases to be his daughter and is shunned.
Meanwhile, Anatevka itself is under threat. The Jews are being forced to leave their homes and many of them decide to go to live in America where many of them have friends and relations. That is to where Tevye and Golde and the two youngest children are to go. Motel and Tzeitel, who now have a child of their own, will join them. Chava and Fyedka, wanted by neither
the Jews nor the Russians, go to live in Poland.
Tevye's Dream: This is a key sequence in the stage
version as well as the movie adaptation. Tevye is sure that
his wife Golde will never agree to Tzeitel and Motel's
wedding, so he conjures up a dream in which Lazar's (the butcher) first wife Fruma-Sarah threatens to kill Tzeitel while Tzeitel's dead grandmother blesses the union on Tzetel and Motel!
Tevye manages to convince Golde through this dream.
31
Saanson ki maala [Film:
Koyla (2001)]
<TC>
Lifted lock stock
and barrel - tune, lyrics, everything - from Nusrat Fateh
Ali Khan's track of the same name!
I suppose many people know this as a lift
because of Stereo Nation's hugely popular recent cover
version of the original Neil Sedaka classic!
Trivia: Did you know that Neil Sedaka wrote and sang 'Oh Carol' for
his girlfriend Carole King? And that she responded with a song of her
own, called 'Oh Neil'?!
33
Aap ke deewane [Film:
Aap ke deewane (1980)]
<TC>
Lifted from Steve
Miller Band's 'Swingtown' (1978)
The intro is clearly inspired, which Rajesh
Roshan hopelessly tries to 'Indianize' (listen to the sample, you'll
know what I mean!), but beyond the intro, instead of using the
original's actual tune, Rajesh merely extends the prominent hum into a
tune!
'Ceddin deden' (meaning, 'your ancestor,
your grandfather'!) was composed in the early 1900s by Kaptanzadi Ali
Riza Bey and lyrics by Ismail Hakki Bey. However, its quite possible
that Rajesh Roshan heard the track from its new remix avatar, by the
Ottoman Military Project that was part of Claude Challe/ Ravin's Nirvana
Lounge Volume 1 that came out in 2000.
36
Idhar chala
[Film:
Koi mil gaya (2003)]
<TC>
Lifted off a
traditional/ folk South American tune called 'Suenos'
Mauricio Amaya, on behalf of Vientos Del Pueblo,
mailed me and says that 'Suenos' is indeed a traditional Andean tune with no
known composer and that the original has a lot of versions prior to
theirs! Two known ones include versions by Viento de los Andes and
Inka Wayra. Mauricio also says that the studio where they recorded
demanded a permit to reproduce this track (a NOC like thing - unheard
for music, in India :-) but didn't get any. So the credit for this song
was simply 'Bolivian Folklore' like
Viento de los Andes
did! Mauricio believes that this track would
ideally be in the public domain and hence its interpretation wouldn't
amount to plagiarism. Good point. But while these guys genuinely wanted
to credit some original, our man Rajesh Roshan, in typical Indian style
took the full credit! Simple attitude difference - glaringly
highlighted!
36
Ek raasta
[Film:
Kaala Pathar (1979)]
The prelude
lifted directly off Dolly Parton's 'Jolene' (1974).
This is a laughably idiotic lift...you'd
start laughing too when you hear Abhijeet go, 'La la la' at the end of
the mukhda...listen to the original first to know what I'm talking
about!
39
Na Hai Zameen [Film:
Khel (1992)]
<TC>
Lifted
from 'Sending all my love', by the band 'Linear' in 1990.
Besides this version by Rajesh Roshan, Anu Malik lifted
it much later, in 1997, for the very popular track from Ishq, 'Neend
churayi meri'! Check out Anu Malik page, No. 30!
40
Taare
aasmaan ke [Film:
King Uncle (1993)]
<TC>
Direct
inspiration from the Kenyan track, 'Jambo bwana', by Them
Mushrooms (1982).
I'm sure you'd remember a rather young Shah Rukh
Khan literally going through the motions while having a well-fed Naghma
on the front beam of his archaic cycle and still managing to sing
something as sweet as 'Is jahaan ke nahin hai, tumhari aankhen', but I
suppose the kidsy track, 'Taare aasmaan ke' became a lot more popular.
The song incidentally was a pretty direct lift of an 1982 African track
titled, 'Jambo Bwana' (meaning, "Hello Mister") by a Kenyan band named
'Them Mushrooms'. This track had a prominent phrase, 'Hakuna Matata'
(meaning, "No worries", in Swahili) which was the title of Boney M's
1984 cover version of this song that came out in their album, 'Kalimba
da luna'. Its a different story that this phrase reached cult status
after being used in Disney's 1994 superhit, 'Lion King'. Considering
Boney M's popularity in India, Rajesh Roshan may have sought inspiration
from their cover version.
41
Phoolon ka yaaron [Film:
Swarg Yahan Narak Yahan (1991)]
<TC>
Inspired by Pet Shop Boys' 1987 single, 'It's a sin'.
Listen to Phoolon ka yaaron:
It's a sin:
The song from the 1991 Mithun
potboiler, Swarg Yahan Narak Yahan had the song 'Phoolon ka
yaaron dekho jigar'. It was a typical Amit Kumar number of
the 90s, with an obvious swagger added to enhance Mithun's
on-screen presence, complete with an extended prelude. But
when the song does start, it strangely seeks inspiration
from Pet Shop Boys' 1987 chartbuster, 'It's a sin', which
came under fire for its music video and was even sued for
allegedly plagiarizing Cat Steven's Wild World. If I may be
allowed to digress, Pet Shop Boys sued back and even won
since their song has nothing to do with the evergreen Cat
Stevens number!
