Pritam-ing a tune is not a new phenomenon, in fact if nothing else Pritam is just a lucky kid who has made use of Youtube and other song sites to his advantage (all he has to do to 'make a new tune' is search on youtube - Hit Korean/Malaysian/Indonesian/Sumatran/Madagascaran Song and he has the whole soundtrack for his next film ready), but the legends, the greats of our industry used to indulge in this from time to time (although not on the industrial scale that Rajesh Roshan, Annu Irritating Malik or the new kid on the block Pritam do).
And some of these old time classics songs are so good, that we are more than willing to over-look these indiscretions on the part of our legends as peccadilloes.
6. Mil Gaya (Hum Kisi Se kam Nahi)
Kajal Kiran and Rishi Kapoor made every teenager go "awwww" at this song and Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahi was one of the biggest musicals of its decade.
(Apologies for lack of video, Damn You YOUTUBE!) Anyway, listen to the song and imagine Neetu Singh and Chintu Ji frolicking around, doesn't that image make you go all awwwww? And this song sounds much better than the original, despite being a direct note by note copy,
Everyone is a fan of ABBA, (even TOUGH guys watch 'Dancing Queen' secretly in closed rooms) and they made a classic with this song, but somehow The Boss made it sound even better.
And of course, we have Neetu Singh.
5. Jeevan Ke Safar Mein Rahi (Munim Ji)
The father of the Boss, arguably the most melodious music director our country has ever had, was known for his wholly original compositions and legendary soundtracks (Guide, for one, comes to the mind), however, he too used a tune (a folk-tune, to be fair, not exactly a song) to craft a song which tells a beautiful tale of short lived romance in a space of roughly four minutes.
I don't know how he came across this tune, perhaps from a Looney Tunes cartoon, or from some old black'n'white spaghetti western. You see, the song is basically this
Although, only the opening of the song is copied from the tune, and S D sir put more work into it, adding changes that made the song a haunting melody (which is surprising since the source was so...flippant)
4. Itna na mujhse tu pyaar badha (Chhaya)
Another seminal piece of work from the golden age of hindi cinema, another song that would list in a lot of people's list of Favourite Songs of all time
whose composition was 'heavily inspired' by Mozart's Symphony no. 40
Although many (including me) would consider this act of lifting to be legit. First of all, the source material is awesome, secondly the filmy version was sung by Talat Mehmood and Lata didi, and thirdly, basing your song on a piece of classical music is not uncommon, watch this video and marvel at how many of your favourite angrezi gaane are based on Pachelbel's Canon in D (also known as the My Sassy Girl song)
3. Aao Twist Karein (Bhoot Bangla)
This movie was perhaps the only hindi film in history to blend Comedy and Horror seamlessly (and we are talking about Intentional comedy here), it was directed by and starred a young and awesome Mehmood, and the movie reaches its peak of awesomeness with this song
There have been only a few moments in world cinema that can be considered as immortalizing the 'Twist', one of them was much later from the time this movie was released, and had Uma ji and John babu twisting around, and the other was this, Mehmood taking a cue from Mick Jagger and letting it loose.
The music was again by The Boss, who also acted in the film, and thus perhaps did not get a chance to compose an original song, or perhaps he was trying to pay ode to Chubby Checker, because the lyrical content and theme are pretty much the same
Although, Mehmood kicks Chubby-Checker ass with his performance.
2. Ae Dil hai Mushkil (CID)
This has to be one of the most iconic songs recorded for a hindi film, and not just because of it being filmed on Johnny Walker sa'ab, but because of the legacy that the song has. And it is a song that doesn't just belong to the city of dreams, it is relevant even today in the pathos that routine life has become
It amazes me a lot that the music director was O P Nayyar, who always had his own unique style, thus it is just a little hard breaking to know that this particular song was lifted from a Videshi Folk-geet.
And the question that I think of again and again is, how did he come to hear of this song in the first place?
1. Dekho Ab To (Jaanwar)
This is a song that takes the icing, the cherry and everything off the cake. Not because of the tune-lifting that occurs here, but because the video itself presents to you a painfully reconstructed Alternative Universe version of the most famous band in the world. Anyways, watch the video for yourself and find out
The Faux-Beatles in the song were part of an actual band called 'Ted Lyons and His Cubs' who have appeared in loads of hindi films (you can read more about them here).
And for that One person who has not heard of The Beatles and the original song, I am posting this video
 |
| Even the Musical Mind of The Boss had its Off Days |
And some of these old time classics songs are so good, that we are more than willing to over-look these indiscretions on the part of our legends as peccadilloes.
6. Mil Gaya (Hum Kisi Se kam Nahi)
Kajal Kiran and Rishi Kapoor made every teenager go "awwww" at this song and Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahi was one of the biggest musicals of its decade.
(Apologies for lack of video, Damn You YOUTUBE!) Anyway, listen to the song and imagine Neetu Singh and Chintu Ji frolicking around, doesn't that image make you go all awwwww? And this song sounds much better than the original, despite being a direct note by note copy,
Everyone is a fan of ABBA, (even TOUGH guys watch 'Dancing Queen' secretly in closed rooms) and they made a classic with this song, but somehow The Boss made it sound even better.
And of course, we have Neetu Singh.
5. Jeevan Ke Safar Mein Rahi (Munim Ji)
The father of the Boss, arguably the most melodious music director our country has ever had, was known for his wholly original compositions and legendary soundtracks (Guide, for one, comes to the mind), however, he too used a tune (a folk-tune, to be fair, not exactly a song) to craft a song which tells a beautiful tale of short lived romance in a space of roughly four minutes.
I don't know how he came across this tune, perhaps from a Looney Tunes cartoon, or from some old black'n'white spaghetti western. You see, the song is basically this
Although, only the opening of the song is copied from the tune, and S D sir put more work into it, adding changes that made the song a haunting melody (which is surprising since the source was so...flippant)
4. Itna na mujhse tu pyaar badha (Chhaya)
Another seminal piece of work from the golden age of hindi cinema, another song that would list in a lot of people's list of Favourite Songs of all time
whose composition was 'heavily inspired' by Mozart's Symphony no. 40
Although many (including me) would consider this act of lifting to be legit. First of all, the source material is awesome, secondly the filmy version was sung by Talat Mehmood and Lata didi, and thirdly, basing your song on a piece of classical music is not uncommon, watch this video and marvel at how many of your favourite angrezi gaane are based on Pachelbel's Canon in D (also known as the My Sassy Girl song)
3. Aao Twist Karein (Bhoot Bangla)
This movie was perhaps the only hindi film in history to blend Comedy and Horror seamlessly (and we are talking about Intentional comedy here), it was directed by and starred a young and awesome Mehmood, and the movie reaches its peak of awesomeness with this song
There have been only a few moments in world cinema that can be considered as immortalizing the 'Twist', one of them was much later from the time this movie was released, and had Uma ji and John babu twisting around, and the other was this, Mehmood taking a cue from Mick Jagger and letting it loose.
The music was again by The Boss, who also acted in the film, and thus perhaps did not get a chance to compose an original song, or perhaps he was trying to pay ode to Chubby Checker, because the lyrical content and theme are pretty much the same
Although, Mehmood kicks Chubby-Checker ass with his performance.
2. Ae Dil hai Mushkil (CID)
This has to be one of the most iconic songs recorded for a hindi film, and not just because of it being filmed on Johnny Walker sa'ab, but because of the legacy that the song has. And it is a song that doesn't just belong to the city of dreams, it is relevant even today in the pathos that routine life has become
It amazes me a lot that the music director was O P Nayyar, who always had his own unique style, thus it is just a little hard breaking to know that this particular song was lifted from a Videshi Folk-geet.
And the question that I think of again and again is, how did he come to hear of this song in the first place?
1. Dekho Ab To (Jaanwar)
This is a song that takes the icing, the cherry and everything off the cake. Not because of the tune-lifting that occurs here, but because the video itself presents to you a painfully reconstructed Alternative Universe version of the most famous band in the world. Anyways, watch the video for yourself and find out
The Faux-Beatles in the song were part of an actual band called 'Ted Lyons and His Cubs' who have appeared in loads of hindi films (you can read more about them here).
And for that One person who has not heard of The Beatles and the original song, I am posting this video
10 comments:
Really Awesome find !! Enjoyed it ...Just one or two originals that i like more than the "heavily inspired" versions(I wanna hold your hand and Mozart's symphony) ... But the rest are surely inspired for better :)
you rock filmistani.really enjoy you research and enriching our filmy know-how.
go pablo go !!
tumi to rock kore dile re dada !!
and I always thought how come my alarm clock, which was a gift from a phoren returned uncle, plays the tune of this Hindi song from #4. :D
great
Bhai, sab sahi hai .. but Hum Kisise Kam Nahi main Neetuji nahi thin - factual error!!
Another recent 'inspired' song would have been "jab koi baat bigad jaaye, jab koi mushkil pad jaaye.." from "Five Hundred Miles" by Peter & Gordon..
I agree that the song is not THAT better than the original, but still.. :-)
Still think the originals are better. Theres no excuse to copying. In fact, in the last song, the lyrics are almost along the same lines.
on Ted Lyons and His Cubs, just see their iconic dance moves from "jaan pehchan ho" being used in a heineken commercial
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