Yes, a direct
lift. Had previously mentioned this as being inspired by 'Simarik'
thanks to the confusion caused by Indian TV channels over
that song. But this particular song is lifted straight of
'Sikidim'. A lesser
known indi-pop singer, Sanjay Raina, has alleged that the track was a
lift from his track by the same name that was part of his 1996 album, 'Hungama'.
As a response, Pritam lets his cat out of the bag, and says that he was
inspired by Tarkan's track and not Sanjay's! While I have not been able
to get Sanjay's number, here are the other 2 tracks!
And, if Sanjay's tune does sound similar to these tracks then its got to
be first of the 3 since Tarkan's song was released as part of his 1999
album, 'Olurum Sana'. (Report in IndiaFM,
Hindustan Times)
Trivia: This is one error that's still doing the rounds. Tarkan has
a couple of chartbusters in his 1999 album, 'Olurum Sana' (Meaning, 'I'd
die for you'). One of them was Simarik, that had an interesting music
video shot amidst narrow lanes and a group of girls try to kiss Tarkan.
This song got a lot of airtime in Indian channels and for some strange
reason every channel got the name of this song wrong - they claimed the
song's name was 'Sikidim', while Sikidim was another different song in
the same album.
'Zahreeli Raatein' is like a faster, DJ'ish
version of Jal's 'Aadat' while 'Bheega bheega sa' is a straight lift
from Abrar Ul Haq's song with the same words (his version is called
'December', however) that was part of his 2001 album 'Main Gaddi Aap
Chalawan Ga'. Jesse Cook's 'Breeze from Saintes Maries' was part of his
2004 album 'Montreal'!
5
6
7
8
'Dil samundar', 'Chori Chori', 'Ana'
and 'Falak dekhoon' [Garam
Masala (2005)] <TC>
Lifted off
Turkish singer Tarkan's 'Kuzu kuzu' (2001), Dr Zeus/ Balwinder Safri's 'Hai rabba'
(2003), Amr Diab's 'Ana' (1999) and a combination of Amr
Diab's Wala Ala Balo (prelude) & Sadda'ny Khalas (main tune)
from Diab's 2001 album, Akhtar Wahed.
Considering that he had already lifted
Turkish superstar Tarkan in Dhoom, this is a dead give-away! The prelude
is the same, while the parts with 'dooba dooba...' are again lifted straight
off the 'kuzu kuzu' part in the original. But, strangely enough, the
main tune which goes, 'dil samandar' does not seem to be a direct lift!
But just one listen to the complete samples below (don't stop mid way!!)
would easily prove the inspiration!
With regard to the second lift, what's particularly baffling is the
second version of the same song in the soundtrack, sung by none other
than Labh Jajua, better known for his work for Punjabi MC. Given the fact both
Jajua/ Punjabi
MC and folks like Dr Zeus/ Balwinder Safri belong to the same UK Bhangra
scene, its rather startling that Labh Jajua chose to be part of an uncredited version of this track. Is Labh so poorly clued in to his own
music scene that he didn't know the source of this track or did he
simply ignore the source blinded by the greens offered by the music
label Venus?
The 3rd lift, of that in 'Adaa' seems more like a strong influence 'cos
of the sheer number of things that Pritam has added to his version. But
the basic thread is from Amr Diab's track.
As for the 4th lift, the extended prelude is
lifted directly off Amr Diab's 'Wala ala baloh' from his 2001 album
Akhtar Wahed. I had assumed that the main tune is Pritam's own and gave
him the benefit of doubt, by not adding this track. I couldn't have been
more wrong - the tune is lifted from - no surprises here! - Amr Diab's
'Sadda'ny Khalas', from the same damn album, Akhtar Wahed!!
9
Jhoom [Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina
(2005)]
<TC>
Lifted from Britney Spears'
commercial for Pepsi, 'Joy of Pepsi' (2001, 2002)!
A lift from
an Advt.!! Pritam sure is going places!
10
11
Chhoren ki baatein
and Joshilay jawan ho [Fight Club
(2006)]
<TC>
Direct lift from Pakistani
singer Ali Zafar's 'Channo ki aankhen' from his 2003 album 'Huqa
Pani' andEgyptian singer Ihab (Ehab) Tawfik's 'Allah alek ya siedi'
from his 2002 album, Homa Kelmeten, respectively.
Ali
Zafar's Rangeen (from the same album) has been
lifted by Himesh in Aashiq
Banaya Aapne! Fight Club's CD does credit Ali Zafar for the source track. So, Pritam gets away scot-free this time!
12
13
Akhiyaan Na Maar,
Jal Jal Ke [Ek Khiladi Ek
Haseena
(2005)]
<TC>
The first one lifted from Pakistani singer Waris Baig's 2004 track, 'Challa'
while the second is a lift from Yuri Mrakadi's 2001 track, 'Arabiyon
Ana'.
Waris
Baig's 2004 album, Aaja Nach Lay had the track Challa.
Pritam's versions are considerably souped up, and catchier....but of course such things don't take away the
fact that its copied!
14
Dhoom machaale [Dhoom
(2004)]
<TC>
Opening 2
lines lifted off Jesse
Cook's 'Mario takes a walk' while the catchy hook has been
ripped off Egyptian singer Amr Diab's
Enta Ma Oltesh Leh, from the 2003
album, Allem Alby.
Congrats Pritam...your most popular number is nothing but a
very clever mix of 2 other tracks - with no credit to any
original artist, as usual! Hats off on you taking the simple
art of plagiarism to the next level by innovatively fusing
two completely disparate tracks into one chartbuster
material!
15
16
17
18
Ya ali, Lamha
lamha, Bheegi bheegi & Tu hi meri shab hai [Gangster
(2006)]
<TC>
Bheegi bheegi is inspired legitimately (!!) by Mohiner
Ghoraguli's Bangla jibhonmuki gaan, 'Prithibi'! 'Ya ali' is
a direct lift from the Arabic band Guitara's 'Ya ghaly' (from their 2002 album,
Qisati), Lamha lamha is lifted from Waris Baig's 1998 track, 'Kal shab dekha maine',
while 'Tu hi meri shab hai' is a direct lift from 'Sacral
Nirvana' by Oliver Shanti & Friends.
The album sleeve does have a credit note to
Gautam Chatterjee! More on
Mohiner
Ghoraghuli! Was it because this is an Indian lift and the rest are
from outside? Strange justice Pritam follows! 'Ya ali' and 'Tu hi meri'
are mighty direct lifts. And so is 'Lamha lamha'! That leaves us with 'Mujhe
mat roko'...till we trace its roots!
19
Ankahee Title
Song [Ankahee
(2006)]
<TC>
Lifted off Boney M's 1984
track, 'Somewhere in the world' from the album 10000 Light
Years.
The original, is a 1969 track composed by
Paul Anka, also made popular as 'My way', by Frank Sinatra and many
other singers including Julio Iglesias and much later, by Gypsy Kings
(the version added here)!
21
Kya mujhe pyar hai [Woh
lamhe
(2006)]
<TC>
Blatant lift from the track, 'Tak bisakah' by the Indonesian
band Peterpan.
Tak bisakah' means, Couldn't you?
and is by one of Indonesia's most popular and successful pop groups,
Peterpan. This track was part of the soundtrack of an Indonesian teen
flick, 'Alexandria' (2005) and is apparently incredibly popular in those
parts of the world!
22
Hai ishq [Bas ek pal
(2006)]
<TC>
Pritam's second use of Yuri Mrakadi's 'Arabiyon Ana' already
lifted by him in Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena (See no. 11)
Pritam likes this track a lot huh? 2 lifts
in 2 consecutive years! And to think that Pritam is a guest composer in
this movie with only this track to his (??) credit!
23
Tu jo nahin [Woh Lamhe
(2006)]
<TC>
Pritam has been given 'recreating' credit for this song, so
he gets to face the music for this lift, perhaps along with
the Bhatts!
I suppose its the Bhatts who started this ridiculous trend of
ignoring the real composer and crediting another as 'music arranged by'.
This trend continues in Woh Lamhe, where Pritam is credited for
composing 2 tracks (out of which one has already proven to be a lift!),
while he's given arranging credits for a couple of other tracks. One of
them happens to be the 50s sounding ghazal-like 'Tu jo nahin', sung by
Glenn John. Its ironical and perhaps an attempt to compensate the lift that Glenn sings this, because his father sang this
way back in 1959. Sunny Benjamin John (SB
John), a very popular singer from Pakistan is the original singer in 1959 for a
Pakistani film called 'Sawera' (the film/ year is yet to be confirmed
since I couldn't find info about it in
Mazhar's excellent website, though it appears in a couple of other
sites) and this song is supposed to be his signature tune. And its very
unfortunate that the Bhatts and the audio company chose to ignore him
and the original composer (couldn't trace his name yet!) in
the credits!
24
Dil mein baji guitar [Apna sapna money money
(2006)]
<TC>
Inspired by the song, 'Sheloha shela' by the Middle Eastern
group, Miami Band!
This is very very interesting. I sorta
expected another track from this soundtrack... 'Gustakh nigah'... to be
lifted! Coming back to this one. it does sound quite like a typical
Mumbaiyya number, except that the inspired bits are obvious. The opening
line is rather similar, but the prominent hook (Main to gaya re) appears
fleetingly in the original. Its interesting to see the way Pritam has
taken pieces across the track and made it sound like a coherent and very
Indian track!And does Miami Band sound familiar? Check out No. 21 in the
Jatin Lalit page!
25
Aa paas aa [Ankahee
(2006)]
<TC>
Main tune lifted off Ottmar Liebert's 'Starry nite (March of
Kings)'!
Oh, don't we love his
inspirations? They always seem to introduce us to some new great talent
from across the planet! After his repeated lifts from Nuevo Flamenco
guitarist Jesse Cook (besides the Turkish Tarkan, of course), here we've
another Nuevo Flamenco guitarist -
Ottmar Liebert - from whom our friend
seeks inspiration. Ankahee's (2006) 'Aa paas aa' borrows for its core
tune, generously and directly from Ottmar's 1990 track, 'Starry nite
(March of Kings)' from the album 'Poets & Angels'! Seems like our
composer friend has a special interest in nuevo guitarists! Wonder how
many other originals will we uncover after a mandatory hearing of
Ottmar's discography!
26
27
28
Kya Love Story
Hai
(2007)
<TC>
01. 'Miss you
everyday' - the orchestration and the catchy hook 'Miss you
everyday, o sanam' lifted directly from Lebanese singer Karina's 2006
chartbuster 'Alatoul'. The main mukhda, 'Jab se tum mile ho'
is a lift from Pakistani singer Hadiqa Kiyani's 1996 number
(album: Raaz), 'Jab se tum milay ho'!
02. 'Deewana teri aankhon ka'
generously inspired from Black Eyed Peas' 'Bebot' (2005)
03. 'Gum sum hai dil mera', uses a lot from the Thai song, 'Oh la
nor...my love' by Bird Thongchai for the main chorus, but also uses
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan's 'Sun yaara' for the main 'Gumsum...' portion.
Pritam ji
is getting utterly incorrigible! Karina is a Senegal-born Lebanese
singer and 'Alatoul' is from her 2006 album, 'Ya
Rayt Bshoufak'. 'Bebot' was part of Black Eyed Peas' 2005 album, 'Monkey
Business'. 'Oh la nor...my love' was part of Bird Thongchai McIntyre's
2005 album titled 'Volume 1'. The striking thing is that Pritam has used
the catchy chorus 'Laakh chupaale deewane' directly from the Thai
original. As if that's not enough of a giveaway, the extended prelude
percussion that opens the Hindi song is also a blatant lift! The actual
tune that starts with 'Gumsum...' is a direct lift from Rahat Fateh Ali
Khan's song, 'Sun yaara' from his 1999 album, 'Aaja mere yaar'.
29
30
Raqeeb
(2007)
<TC>
01. 'Jaane
kaise' lifted directly off Amr Diab's 2003 track, 'Allem
albi' from the album of the same name!
02. 'Channa ve channa' is
lifted from a similarly titled song by Pashto singer Rahim
Shah that came out in 2003.
I'm
actually getting tired of adding Pritam's lifts!
The former is a direct lift with only the
funky orchestration as Pritam's input, while the latter has a bit more
of the composer's imagination in the tune, even though a large part of
the backgrounds and the very catchy hook is lifted as-is.
31
32
Metro
(2007)
01. 'In dino'
uses a line from Waqar Ali's 'Mera naam hai mohobbat'!
02. 'Oh meri jaan' seems
generously inspired by Queensryche's 'Silent Lucidity'.
For 'In dino', The line, 'Hai tujhe bhi ijazat, karle tu
bhi mohobbat' seems exactly like a line from Pakistani
singer Waqar Ali's (brother of another famous Pakistani singer,
Sajjad Ali) beautiful song, 'Mera naam hai mohobbat' (album by
the same name, released in 2001) - the line, 'Do dilon ki
ijazat, mera naam hai mohobbat'! Considering the similarity
with the use of the words 'Ijazat' and 'Mohobbat',
this interview with Pritam seems significant in nailing the
culprit! Pritam says, "Anurag (Basu, Director of Metro) was
humming something like 'ijazat' and 'mohabbat' and said that he
wanted a song with those words. Just for fun (sic) sake I made
the 'mukhda' and 'antara' and Anurag liked it.....!". So,
was Anurag humming Waqar's song?
'Oh meri jaan'
seems to have been constructed with generous inspiration from a
track named, 'Silent Lucidity' by an American progressive metal
band
Queensrÿche. Silent Lucidity was part of Queensryche's 1990
album, 'Imagine'. Its quite a beautiful piece of work by Pritam,
actually - the tune is his, while the backgrounds, straight out
of the original, work very well in context!
33
34
Signal & Afreen [Bhagam Bhag
(2006)]
<TC>
01. Signal is inspired by a
Trinidadian Soca hit, 'Signal for Lara' by Superblue.
02. Afreen is lifted off Cheb
Mami's 2001 track, 'Viens Habibi'
Considering that catchy hook is
almost everything for a song like 'Signal' (Isn't that the
main thing you remember and hum?), this does sound considerable. The
original happens to be composed as a tribute to Brian
Lara when he broke the world batting record for the highest
individual score in first-class cricket (501 not out for
Warwickshire, against Durham) in 1994. The track was composed by
Trinidadian,
Soca artist Superblue (born Austin Lyons). The song was part
of Superblue's 1995 album, 'Happy Carnival'.
'Afreen'
has the main tune lifted directly from Rai superstar Cheb
Mami's 2001 track, 'Viens Habibi' - from his album, 'Dellali',
this song features French chanson singer Charles Aznavour.
The original has a completely different flavor while Pritam
should be credited for that funky sound that he has added in
the process of lifting.
35
Janmabhoomi &
Zindagi hai to [Agnipankh
(2004)]
<TC>
Lifted off
Abrar-ul-haq's 'December', an year before he lifted it in
'Chocolate' again.
This was a kind of instantly
appealing song that came with a stock comment, 'I'm sure
I've heard this tune...'! I still remember a friend of mine
(back in my school days, in Coimbatore) who, when she played Khamoshi's 'Jaana suno' said that her aunt identified its
source as 'Bring the wine...'. And the absolute amazement
when I did lay my hands on the original and spent a few
hours playing them back to back in utter disbelief! Well,
the same thing happened as soon as I heard the original of
Chal Chale - a 1965 track called 'A World of our own' by the
band, The Seekers. The song is composed and produced by
Tom Springfield. To Pritam's credit, he has spruced the
source into a laid back and thoroughly enjoyable track.
Getting James to sing was another masterstroke. But, its
uncredited. And the fact that Pritam attempts to pass the
tune as his own, irks. Vinay also points out that
thematically both tracks are a bit similar too - so lyricist
Neelesh Mishra may also be aware of the original.
It does involve a
lot of alterations by Pritam. But the original shows itself at
various points that you can't help but be amazed at Pritam's
blatant inventiveness. This was a knockout of a track by Zubin Garg in the 2006 Pyar ke
side effects. Its
partly knockout since its based on Pakistani singer Hadiqa
Kiyani's Mahi, from her 2003 album, Rung. But, quite a good
piece of improvisation by Pritam.
After that hint
of Queensryche's Silent
Lucidity in 'O meri jaan' from Metro, here's another damning
piece from another song - this time from Pritam's fave, Amr
Diab. The song - Ba'ed el Layali, from his 2002 album,
Akhtar Wahed. Pritam seems to have tweaked his version
considerably and added the prominent, catchy 'O meri jaan'
hook, but just observe closely the line (3rd) which goes,
"Wallah ezy
yehoon aleik
Kol shei fel boad?" in Amr's
original. Don't you hear,
"kal, uska raha
ab hai tera, is raat se"?
Yes, Amr's version has that typical, very-Middle eastern
off-key (at least to Indian ears!) tune twist. That's where
Pritam's effort shows, I suppose.
41
Hare ram hare ram [Bhool
Bhulaiyya
(2007)]
<TC>
Inspired by Bill
Hailey's Oriental Rock and Korean hiphop group, JTL's 'My
lecon'!
There seems
to be some similarity - at least the most prominent part of
the song, 'Hare ram hare ram'! The interesting thing about
this story is the theme behind the album 'Rocking' around
the world' itself. Most of the songs in this album were
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! Now, our job is to trace the
titles/ artists of those songs that inspired 'Rocking'
around the world' as an album! If you're able to crack this one, lemme know!
The other, more direct lift is the prominent musical piece
that opens the song and stays throughout the song. This is
lifted as-is from a track titled, 'My Lecon' by the Korean
hip-hop group, JTL (album: Enter the dragon, 2001). This
could be a commercial loop too, but no information on that
right now.
42
Baatein kuch ankahee si [Life
in a Metro
(2007)]
<TC>
Blatant lift from the
Korean song, 'Ah Reum Dah Oon Sa Ram' by Seo Yu Seok!
Just when you thought
Pritam had only marginal influences for that gorgeous
soundtrack in Life in a Metro (2007), here comes a complete
shocker! One of the lesser heard/ promoted songs from Metro
- Adnan Sami sung, 'Shaayad yehi hai pyaar' (Baatien kuch
ankahee si) is a blatant, note-to-note and utterly shameless
rip-off of a Korean track! Yes, the original is called 'Ah
Reum Dah Oon Sa Ram' (quite a mouthful huh?, roughly
translates to 'You're my beautiful person') and is a Korean
oldie, though I'm not sure about the year. The singer's name
is Seo Yu Seok, a famous 70s singer from Korea. Just before
anybody casts any aspersions on the possibility that this
song may be newer than Metro's Hindi freemake, here's
another level of proof - this song was part of a very very
famous Korean TV drama called 'My name is Kim Sam Soon'
(2005, also referred to as, 'My Lovely Sam Soon'). The track
was not part of the original soundtrack of this TV drama but
just occurs in between in one of the key scenes between the
protagonists. Have included two versions of this track -
one, while this was being sung in an inebriated state by Sam
soon, the Korean drama's lead character (actress) before her
first kiss (it seems!) with the lead actor, Hyun Bin and
two, Seo Yoo Suk's original rendition. Lovely track, by the
way.
Pritam ji, where/ how the hell did you listen to this song,
man?
Even though these lifts are rather minimal compared to an
average Pritam plunder, it at least serves as an interesting
study into the mind of this talented composer. First
question. How is a song named? I mean, the name you see on
the CD sleeve? By the opening words or the most prominent
words used in the song? If its the latter, then Dhol's 'Dil
liya' could have been called 'Halka halka' since those are
the opening words. But, based on the importance given to the
'Dil liya' portion, its surprising that its precisely the
part that Pritam has sought inspiration, from Lebanese
singer Dania Khatib's 1999 hit, 'Leiley'! Second instance is
the Bhool Bhulaiyya track, 'Allah hafiz' in which, exactly
like the previous example, Pritam uses portions of Amr
Diab's 2001 track Awedony, to score the most prominent and
repeated part, 'Allah hafiz'.
01. Aao milo chale
lifted off Indonesian band, Peterpan's 'Di Belakangku'!
02. Yeh ishq kya borrows heavily from Paris-based Indonesian
singer Anggun's 'Être Une Femme'
I had crowned Pritam as the composer of the year 2007 and chosen
his 'Aao milo chale' from Jab we met as my personal fave No.
1 song of the year. Pretty blatant, I should add. And from whom? Peterpan! The same Indonesian band that earlier lost 'Tak
bisakah' to Pritam in the form of 'Kya mujhe pyaar hai' in
Woh Lamhe. Even more weird is the fact that the original of
'Aao milo chale', titled 'Di Belakangku' is part of the same
album as Tak bisakah - the OST of the Indonesian film
'Alexandria', that released in 2005!
As for Yeh ishq kya, well, technically, I would give Priam a
reprieve since only portions of the tune is lifted, but I
can assure your jumping out of whatever you're sitting on as
soon as the 'original' starts! You may even easily go, 'Holy
shit'! Pritam borrows generous portions of Anggun's 2004
superhit French single, 'Être Une Femme', but adds
significant parts of his creativity to do a very catchy tune
of his own. This lift perhaps best explains Pritam's process
of working on tunes!
Does the name Anggun sound
familiar? It may! Tamil composer Yuvan Shankar Raja has
already lifted her 'A rose in the wind' as 'Manasu rendum'
in the 2003 film Kaadhal Konden! More about it on the
Yuvan page, listing No. 5!
45
46
Race
(2008)
01. Pehli nazar mein
is shameslessly
plagiarized from the Korean song, 'Sarang hae yo' by Kim
Hyung-sub.
02. Zara zara is a result of generous inspiration from the
Chinese track, 'Deep within the Bamboo grove' (Zhu Lin Shen Chu) by South east Asian singer Lee-Hom
Wang (from his 2005 album, Shangri-La).
This is just like Metro's 'Shaayad
yehi hai pyaar' and 'Ah Reum Dah Oon Sa Ram'! The original
song (Sarang hae yo) was part of the soundtrack of a 2005 Korean tele series
titled, 'Kwae-geol Chun-hyang' (Delightful Girl Choon-Hyang
or Sassy Girl Chun Hyang). This lift is very similar to most
of Pritam's other recent cases - shockingly direct, right
from the tune, backgrounds et all! The less said about the
Zara zara lift, the better!
Watch Sarang hae yo video,
here!
More on
Lee-Hom Wang! And, watch the video of 'Deep within the
bamboo grove'
here!
47
Door na ja[Jannat
(2008)]
Modeled along Damien
Rice's 'The Blower's Daughter (2001).
Aah...this is refreshing! Pritam has
actually come up with an inspiration that sounds more like
he's imbibed the feel of the original and crafted something
genuinely derivative! Rana Mazumder's amazing vocals carry
this track superbly, but the opening, sedate portion of the
song seems to have been modeled along Damien Rice's cult
hit, 'The Blower's Daughter'. Even if the 'Tera chehra' part
is perhaps intentionally different from the source's 'And so
it is...', the Hindi track's 'Door na ja' is a dead giveaway
- just compare it with the original's 'Can't take my eyes
off you' and the corresponding background arrangements. But
Pritam takes his version to another level shortly after that
- pretty neat job!
Pritam seeks inspiration for the Adnan Sami song, Haan Ji, from UK-based
Punjabi singer Sukshinder Shinda's 2005 number, Punjabi
Clap, from the album Balle! To be fair to Pritam, he has
worked on the base tune but the backgrounds and a part of
the tune is an obvious give away.
49
Hai Junoon[New York
(2009)]
Contains traces of
Indonesian band Samsons' song, 'Naluri
Lelaki', from their 2006 album of the same name.
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?
Update 1! 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!
Update 2! The Pritam Vs Pankaj Awasthi
imbroglio makes it to Hindustan Times Cafe, Mumbai! See here
- JPG
Update 3! 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.
50
Hotty naughty[De
dana dhan
(2009)]
The prominent title
hook of the song is lifted straight off the Haryanvi song,
'Hat ja tau' by singer Vijay Dahiya.
The first thing I checked was the CD
notes - to see if there's any credit for the folk source the
tune (or the main hook after which the song is titled)
borrows from...no credits printed! The Haryanvi song by
Vijay Dahiya, 'Hat ja tau' was part of the album Naya Lifafa
(2007). A out-of-India source seems better in this case,
since the original singer is a local folk singer and
deserves a broader platform if he's indeed good - but not
this way, when a leading Bollywood composer 'uses' the
source track and does something akin to a remix, without
credit.
51
Bheegi si bhaagi si[Rajneeti
(2010)]
Alleged similarity
with Peterpan's 'Jauh Mimpiku'.
Bheegi si bhaagi si:
Jauh Mimpiku:
The alleged source is our very
familiar Indonesian band, Peterpan, from which Pritam has already 2 tracks, Tak
Bisakah (Kyun aaj kal, Woh Lamhe) and Di Belakangku (Aao
milo chalen, Love Aaj Kal). The interesting fact is that the
alleged source of the Rajneeti song is from the same album
that had the 2 earlier lifts - the soundtrack of a film
called Alexandria (Peterpan's album was called, 'Menunggu
Pagi'). So, here we have, the song titled, 'Jauh Mimpiku',
but here's the deal - the entire Hindi song seems different,
but for 2 prominent portions - the tune for the lines, 'Aah
haa, gulabi si subah, Aah Haa, sharabi si hawa' and the main
hook, 'bheegi si bhaagi si' can be traced in the Indonesian
song, although, the former is direct, the latter is heard in
muted way, if you listen carefully, the background music
holds the key. This is a dicey lift to add, but given these
2 portions and the fact that it is from the same Peterpan
album, I'm adding it in ItwoFS for comparison's sake,
though, personally, given how deeply the line appears in
Hindi (and not in the beginning), I'd give the benefit of
doubt to Pritam.
52
Challa[Crook
(2010)]
From Babbal Rai's
Australian Challa.
Challa (Crook):
Australian Challa:
Crook has music by Pritam and I
will resist any further temptation to crack a joke about that title and it's
connection...well, I said I will resist. The soundtrack of Crook is not out
officially, but on the net, it is out on various song-sharing sites. The lead
song, Challa, is credited to Babbu Mann and Suzanne D'Mello and sounds exactly
like a 2 year old informal YouTube hit by an Australian Punjabi kid, Babbal Rai!
Here are the facts!
1. Babbal Rai's song is titled, 'Australian Challa' and was posted on YouTube in
March 2008.
Here's the video.
2. As you can see, it sounds like a coarse, drunk video posted by a group of
friends. The date and tune however bear closer look. The date is clearly 2 years
ago and this is a really popular track on the YouTube circuit. The main tune,
right up to that catchy hook (Tadada tadada) is used as-is in Pritam's filmy
version.
3. Babbal Rai's YouTube success was so massive that he announced the launch of
his debut album,
Saau Putt -
The First Chapter, recently. Guess what? It is slated to be released in a
record label named 'Point Zero'. Who owns Point Zero? Babbu Mann...who has sung
the filmy version of Challa!
The song is credited as 'Based on traditional folk melody'.
The point...yes, there are definite shades of the folk
melody made popular by a lot of Pakistani and Punjabi
singers (the first 4 lines at least), but, the main hook, 'Tana na tana na' is what differentiates this one
from the regular folk renditions. And that...is directly from Babbal Rai's
drunk, informal version. It's a shame that big guys like Pritam and Babbu Mann
refuse to accept that and merely credit it to a folk song.
Babbal Rai, the singer who had uploaded his
version of 'Challa' two years ago on YouTube, has finally surfaced. He seems to
be upset with Pritam crediting the song as one being based on "traditional folk
melody". Says Geena Dosanjh, Babbal's manager, 'His initial reaction was that of
shock. The song was composed two years ago and posted on YouTube. It was clearly
stated that the song was written by him. Babbal feels he has been cheated and
that his work has been stolen!'
...and,
"Crook" director Mohit Suri is giving a
special thanks of Special thanks to Babbal Rai for "Australian Challa" in the
credits of his film. "I had heard the "Australian Challa" online. The lyrics of
the song had been connected with the racial problems faced by cab drivers is
Australia. Though Babbal's version of the song didn't reach us on time for it to
be included in the CDs of "Crook", we are crediting Babbal in our film," Mohit
says.
Great news! Glad to know Babbal is getting credit, albeit in the film and not in
the CD!
