27.August.2011 @
Despite all the quality-centered (lack of it...oodles of it etc.) conversations
around Himesh Reshammiya, one thing you couldn't touch the man, so far, was his
originality. I do hear jokes arising in your minds when it comes to the need for
originality in the perceived quality that Himesh delivers, but let us set aside
personal biases of quality and look at something more factual here. Yes, he did
have a couple of plagiarism allegations in Aashiq Banaya Aapne, but he had also
successfully directed them at the film's producer and director and absolved
himself eventually, despite being credited as the composer for the film. But, I
wonder how he may explain lifting a 15th century Romanian Christmas carol in his
comeback film (as a composer), Bodyguard! The only song that
I seemed to like in the soundtrack was 'Teri Meri' featuring Rahat Fateh Ali
Khan and Shreya Ghoshal. It had a nice flowing ring to it, but it looks like
that ring belongs to Romania.
The original is called 'La Betleem colo-n jos' and is massively popular as a
Romanian Chritmas carol with origins in the 15th century. Just one search on
YouTube will land you tons of variants and the most popular, recent version
seems to be by the world's "youngest person ever to score commercial success as
a singer" at the age of 3 (!!!) -
Cleopatra Stratan. Her 2009 album 'Crăciun Magic' (Magic Christmas) includes
a variant of this song too! I've included 2 versions of the original for
comparison - one performed by Corala Armonia in Toronto and another, an
uncredited solo off YouTube. Thanks to a
lead by Mohit Garodia.
Technically, a 15th century song may not need any specific crediting and could
ideally called as being in the 'public domain' for anyone to adapt. I completely
buy that logic, but I have always believed that plagiarism is a question of
intent, and less a point about royalty. The intent is what comes through when a
composer does not (choose to) credit his source - it seems like he wants to pass
it off as his own composition, as against being brave enough to credit his
source and let people appreciate his inventive adaptation.
Listen to
Teri Meri:
La Betleem colo-n jos (Corala Armonio):
La Betleem colo-n jos:
16.JULY.2011 @ I'm so tempted to say,
'Here we go again...'. I suppose G V Prakash Kumar is the only modern day
composer who consistently feeds good fodder for this website; my other regulars
like Pritam have all turned good. I'm not complaining though - that's way it
should be - I want less and less newer music added in this website. But, for the
moment, let us turn our attention to G V Prakash Kumar's latest track called,
'Pa pa pa' from the Vikram-starrer, Deivathirumagal. It is inspired generously
by the Sean Penn starrer 'I Am Sam' (2001). Perhaps Vikram was looking for a
'national' award for his 'mental' act (the coarse way mass audience usually -
and unfairly - address such performances)...but, if it is inspired, it only
deserves a 'notional' award, in my opinion. As for the song, 'Pa pa pa' is a
replica of Roger Miller's 1973 track called 'Whistle-stop' that
he wrote and sung for the
Disney version of Robin Hood (featuring animals as inhabitants of Nottingham).
It is disconcerting to see young G V Prakash Kumar lift tunes so unabashedly.
Thanks to this
tweet
by Barath Sreelal for the lead.
Listen to
Pa pa pa:
Whistle-stop:
02.July.2011 Yes, I usually do not add
intra-India inspirations/lifts - from one state to another. It is largely
because the source and dates get messy and in case of folk songs the source
itself is difficult to trace and assign ownership to. But this one was
irresistible! This song is generally hailed as one of the 3 best introduction
songs for Rajinikanth, along with Baasha's Naan Aautokaran and Muthu's Oruvan
Oruvan. And it is amazing to note that composer Deva actually based it on an
iconic Marathi song. Yes, I'm referring to Annamalai's 'Vanthenda Paalkaaran'
that seems obviously based on the famous Marathi song, 'Mi Dolkar Dariyacha
Raja'! It is fascinating to see how Deva has 'used' the song to create his Tamil
version - the opening chorus in the original is retained as the mukhda in the
Tamil version, while the actual mukhda of the original becomes the 2nd line -
very clever version!
In fact, I recalled a mail from
MusicAloud's Vipin Nair on this similarity (sent late last year, that too!)
when I was playing Khogen Gogoi and Shankar Mahadevan's Coke Studio MTV number,
'Tip Top'
just last week...Shankar sings phrases from Mi Dolkar right in between the song.
While the origins of Mi Dolkar aren't entirely clear, it seems to be composed by
Hridaynath Mangeshkar and originally sung by (quite beautifully, I should add)
Hemant Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar. The song also has lyrics by noted Marathi
poetess Shanta Shelke. Listen to
Vanthenda Paalkaaran:
Mi Dolkar Dolkar:
26.June.2011 One of my favorite
soundtracks in Malayalam happened to be Gopi Sundar's 'Anwar'.
It was a fabulous blend of great tunes and splendid orchestration. So, it comes
as a shock to note that one of the best songs in the soundtrack happens to be
inspired. This is the second recent inspiration in Malayalam film music, coming
on the heels of Deepak Dev's inspired version of Lorena McKennitt's
Caravanserai, that he used as 'Aaro nee aaro' in Santosh Sivan's magnum opus,
Urumi.
The source is a song titled 'Rosa Maria' by the hugely popular Spanish modern
Flamenco band
Chambao; the song was in their 2006 album, Caminando. The format that Gopi
Sundar uses in Anwar is largely similar to the catchy, immensely tuneful
flamenco that Chambao creates in Rosa Maria, but the way Gopi smoothens the tune
to suit Indian ears is mighty impressive. So, even though you'll continue to
catch your jaw that will drop to ground level as you play both the songs the
first time as you compare both tunes...you'll certainly notice the differences
rendered by Gopi - the relatively softer tone of Shreya Ghoshal compared to La
Mari's (Chambao's lead singer) full-throated singing being one of the main
things. Good inspiration, but again, if not credited, it certainly takes the
edge out of Gopi Sundar's version! Thanks to the lead from this tweet! Listen to
Kanninima:
Rosa Maria:
21.April.2011 @
I know I haven't been regular on ItwoFS updates, but kya karen - I don't seem to
get really convincing lifts these days! The more exotic the source, the better
to get me off my butt to update ItwoFS. So, here are 2 such lifts!
The first one, in Tamil. Vikram starrer Dheiva Thirumagan already looks like the
freemake of the Sean Penn starrer,
I am Sam,
though I sincerely hope I'm wrong. But, composer GV Prakash Kumar, after amazing
lifts in recent soundtracks like Va Quarter Cutting (Thediyae), is back again,
though, this time he has a subtler lift, in my opinion. So, we have the song 'Jagada
thom' sung by SP Balasubramaniam, Maya and Mahesh borrowing its prominent and
repetitive hook from Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan's 2007 song 'Truth' from
the album of the
same name. The song also featured Ustad Amjad Ali Khan Saheb And
Subhalakshmi Khan. Thanks to info by
Anandham on my music review of the Tamil soundtrack. Listen to
Jagada thom:
Truth:
The second one is a much more blatant lift. The song 'Aaro nee aaro' from Urumi,
with music by Deepak Dev. This was a fabulously sung song in the Malayalam song,
by Shweta Mohan and KJ Yesudas. It turns out to be a direct lift from the song
'Caravanserai' by Lorena McKennitt (from her 2006 album,
An
Ancient Muse - the name 'Caravanserai' not to be confused with a similarly
titled
1972
album by Santana). The expansive lead line 'Aaro nee aaro' is used to open
the Malayalam track where it is used in a different context in Lorena's version,
but the actual tune is ditto! Lorena is supposed to have derived inspiration for
her album from the music of Greece, the Middle east, Far East and Turkey. If
Deepak Dev also sought inspiration from a common original, hats off to his
exploratory skills. Thanks to info from a
friend who may not want to be named as the source of this super find! Listen to
Aaro nee:
Caravanserai:
13.February.2011 @
Egypt is the flavor of the season...what with the dramatic events that happened
over the last fortnight there! So, here's a related Egypt entry in ItwoFS!
Remember the only song from Hindi films that can be sung to commemorate April
1st? Yes, Shankar Jaikishan's title song from the 1964 film, April Fool! It
seems to have an uncanny resemblance with an early 60s Egyptian song titled,
'Take me back to Cairo' sung by Karim Shoukry. The first line is smoothened out
in the end to fit a naughty Hindi filmy situation, but the overall flow in that
line and the subsequent 3 lines act as a spoiler'ish giveaway. To the composers'
credit, usually, in such cases, Hindi composers use bits and pieces even in the
interludes, but Shankar Jaikishan haven't used any and carve it out into a
typical filmy number worthy of Biswajeet's tight trousers and springing dance
steps! Thanks to Amitabh Das for the info! Listen to
April Fool Banaya:
Take Me Back To Cairo:
31.December.2010 @
When I got this lead from Vaibhav Vishal, I was indeed skeptical. After all, how
can it be that
obvious - a song called 'Sweet Little Sheila' being the source of India's new
chartbuster item song seemed too convenient. So, I tried a little experiment - I
have done this earlier on Twitter, but given how curiously obvious this one
seemed, I posted it in Milliblog, with no mention whatsoever but just a
question, 'What do you think?'. It evoked a lot of interesting responses - many
were stunned; some, like Sonnenlicht, questioned my tactic of posting it there
to gauge responses (rightfully so, since it was a first, if you ignore my
similar attempts on Twitter), while Vishal himself had some observations to make
as well.
I have read all that there is to read. Here's what I think.
First, this is not a tune lift, in my opinion. And, if the Modern Talking song
had any other lady's name apart from Sheila, I wouldn't even have given it
another chance - but, there are 2 levels of similarities here. One, the
stunningly obvious name - 'Sheila'. And second, the brief, but definite
similarity between part of the hook - 'Her name is Sheila' and 'My name is
Sheila'. Of course, the fact that the rest of the 2 songs are vastly different
should also be taken into consideration, but 2 such large instances of
connection are more than adequate to warrant an entry in ItwoFS, in my opinion -
not in the coincidences or trivia section, but in the main composer's section.
Modern Talking's song, 'Sweet Little Sheila' seems to have nothing to do,
tune-wise, with Tommy Roe's 1962 hit single of the same title and features in
their 1986 album, 'In the Middle of Nowhere'.
That said, Sonnenlicht, in his scathing indictment of my asking other's opinion
(in this case) also posed a valid question - would I consider seeking opinions
from other composers as well, before adding their songs on ItwoFS. Good point -
my only answer is that Vishal chose to respond. Many other newer composers are
online and if they did not choose to connect with me (my email ID is right there
on top - visibly; there is a reason why I've made and maintained this site as a
website, with no commenting, and not like a blog), so be it. So, in short, no, I
do not intend to seek opinions before sharing my opinion on ItwoFS - not in this
case (it was intended to gauge Milliblog and ItwoFS readers' opinions) and not
in any other case. If composers choose to respond, I'd more than gladly amplify
it and connect it to the song in question. Like in this case -
do read Vishal Dadlani's response, here. Listen to
My name of Sheila:
Sweet Little Sheila:
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!
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
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