RMIM Archive Article "375".
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian
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# RMIM Archives..
# Subject: Plagiarism
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# Posted by: jagadIsh@us.ibm.com.nospam (jagadIsh)
# Source: MP Chronicle
# Author:
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Music Directors' Stand On Plagiarism
by
MG Rai
MP Chronicle
July 15 1997
Anandji (of the Kalyanji-Anandji duo) says, ``There isn't anything
wrong in being inspired by someone else's work and creating a tune
around it. Everyone is inspired by something. As a youngster I loved a
particular SD Burman tune. As a composer, that tune was my
stepping-stone to create something similar of my own.'' Veteran
composer Khayyam too voiced similar sentiments. The aching chasm
between the `final quality' and thus the popularity of `Jumma Chumma'
from LP's Hum and `Tama Tama Loge' from Bappi's Thanedar is a
shimmering example. ``Amitabh had liked the Mory Kante number so much
that he wanted us to work on it. We told him that we would prefer to
work out something of our own. But Amitabh was very keen on the
song. How could we refuse someone like him?'' question's Pyarelal. The
duo thus took up selected bars from the original and fashioned a song
around it.
So that's the nub. Where does inspiration end and imitation begin?
Where does a music director stop creating and start copying? In an era
and environment when creativity is at a great premium, how differently
interpreted is the term `inspiration' from what it means? And why?
Nadeem, once said, ``primarily we are entertainers''. If delivering
entertainment meant copying well-known foreign/Indian hits, then his
tone implied - so be it. Bappi Lahiri, with a definite touch of
sarcasm, said that the older composers too had been copy-cats. The
fact, cold and undeniable, remains that in the `40s, `50s and`60s,
there were no cassettes available at an affordable price. From
Shanker-Jaikishan, OP Nayyar and Naushad down to Usha Khanna had done
their bit of copying.
``In 1958,'' says Anandji, ``C Ramachandra's `dekh hame awaaz na dena
(Rafi-Lata) from Amar Deep and Shanker Jaikishan's `yeh mera diwanapan
hai' (Mukesh, Yahudi) were two different interpretations of the same
basic source. How different this ingenuity is when we compare it with
Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen's `bol gori bol zara itni si baat'
(Meherbaan-93), a straight lift from AR Rahman's `Rukmani Rukmani'
(Roja) which, startlingly again, is itself inspired by a foreign tune!
Or from Bappi Lahiri's ``tumse milna milkar chalna' (Amaanat) and
Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen's `uf yeh shabab' (Khoon Ka Sindoor) which are
both based on the same tunes of Khaled? Or similarly from Bappi
Lahiri's `mere jaisi haseena ka dil' (Amaanat) and Anu Malik's `O meri
neend churane wale tera' (Chamatkar)? Or from `love rap' (Krantiveer)
by Anand- Milind and Anu Malik's re-cycling (in Gambler) of the same
`me wan gal' hit by Apache Indian? Or those half-a-dozen versions of
`Didi'?
Rahul Dev Burman, in a television interview, revealed how music
directors are as revered and gifted as his father SD Burman and the
late Roshan was, both created masterpieces from one musical
`metre'. He said, ``My father's Lata number, `Thandi hawayen leherake
aayen' from Naujawan (51) was so much liked by Roshansaab, that he
took it as the starting point for his own Lata classic `Rahe na rahe
hum' from Mamta (66).'' (Those were the days when a composer would
openly admire a colleague's creation and even telephone to tell him
so). The late Pancham-da also disclosed how he himself completed the
cycle by using the Mamta gem as the basic take-off point for his own
Kishore-Lata beauty `Saagar Kinare dil yeh pukare' (Saagar-85).
Musicologist CM Desai mentioned Shankar-Jaikishan's (specially the
former's) mischievous trait of `re-working' tunes of colleagues which
he felt had the potential of being great numbers but had flopped
partially or totally due to insufficient attention to fine details and
nuances! ``Almost always,'' says Desai, ``the later S-J version proved
to be a surperhit.'' Off hand, he mentioned Naushad's `Hameen se
muhabbat, hameen se ladaai' (Leader) which `touched up' by S-J, came
to us as `Ae phoolon ki rani baharon ki malika' (Arzoo), the latter
song still sounding daisy-fresh in `94 as it did 28 years ago! This
particular song was Jaikishan's handiwork. And S-J used to do this
even with their own tunes.
For An Evening In Paris, S-J used several well-known French tunes as
the base. Usha Khanna openly admits that her music is heavily
influenced by West Asian music. With a healthy attitude towards
seeking inspiration as a prelude to giving something novel, men like
RD Burman and Salil Choudhary have enriched our music
immeasurably. How poorer would our music be if the Burmans (both
father and son) had not brought to us, the rich folk of Assam and
Bengal? And Salil-da's penchant for elegant western compositions is as
well-known as is his flair for adapting songs from the west Bengal's
rich musical vaults?
``But it was only Pancham (Rahul Dev Burman) who integrated the two
diverse styles and fashioned terrific compositions.'' Among them, are
RD's superb numbers like OP Nayyar palmed off several Western and
Arabic songs, including straight lifts, as his own `original' works!
Coming to today's era where plagiarising is more rampant than ever
before, the picture is vastly different. Counters, Anu Malik, ``How
many entirely original songs can an artiste create in a month? Two,
three, maybe four? We have to record at least ten songs in a month.''
In a milieu where survival is more a matter of successful strategy
than of merit, no composer can survive on pure originality. Having
seen sheer rejection for four miserably frustrating years (89-92), Anu
has developed what he calls `his greed for money', with big banners
eagerly coming to him.
And however adds that hard work is everything. ``I was and am crazy
about Shankar-Jaikishan, whom I consider the ultimate amongst the film
composers. I even share their special love for Bhairavi and their
other favourite raagas, but I have never copied them. My father would
hate it if I even copied him. But everyone needs inspiration. I'm Anu
Malik not a Beethoven or a Mozart. Anyone claiming to be original is
a liar. There are only seven notes in music and we have to move within
them. But I cannot copy outright. The exceptions happen because I have
to oblige someone. But then I prefer to do well-known songs, not hide
anything''. Among Anu's better `inspired' numbers are `Ae mere
humsafar' (Baazigar) from LP's Khubsoorat hasina' (Mr X In
Bombay). But dozens of Anu Maliks creations give an uncannily- eerie-
deja-vu feel of the S-J of the sixties. Paas woh aane lage zara-zara'
(Main Khiladi Tu Anari), `Ek yaad ke sahere' (Imtihaan), `Badalon mein
chhup raha hai' (Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Ayee), `Kaatil aankhon wale'
(Hum Hain Bemisaal) and `Kitni haseen hai raat'(Naaraz)- written by
SJ's home-lyricist Hasrat Jaipuri) are among recent prime examples of
such Anu Malik numbers.
In fact, Shanker-Jaikishan, followed in that order by Laxmikant-
Pyarelal and the two Burmans have been the inspiration or blueprint
for hundreds of tunes from present-day music makers. At the peak of
the media fued between Nadeem-Shravan and Anu Malik, a leading singer
snorted sarcastically. ``How dare they accuse each other of copying
when they should both apoligise to Shanker- Jaikishan and other
masters?''
Laxmikant-Pyarelal's orchestral pattern has inspired hundreds of
songs. Whether it is Anand-Milind who styled scores as varied as Lal
Dupatta Malmal Ka and Udhaar Ki Zindagi on the L-P format, Dilip
Sen-Sameer Sen, Naresh Sharma, Mahesh Kishore or even Nadeem Shravan
(`Saajan ka Ghar', `babul' and `behna' numbers). Even classically
gifted composers like Shiv-Hari choose to tread L-P in songs like
`Meri Bindiya' (Lamhe).
RD Burman was and is the obvious blueprint for the bulk of Jatin-
Lalits' output. Their songs in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander, (Naam hai mera
Fonseca,' Jawaan ho yaaron') and above all Shehar ki pariyon ke
peeche' which even has Sadhana doing an RD-Asha essque (`Hey- Hey')
Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman (`Dil hai mera diwana') Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa
and Laqshya (practically all the songs) reek so much of the master
that one even wonders why RD himself was not approached for the
films. RD was also the `base' on which Bappi Lahiri built his career.
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian