The Sneaky Job!
In March 2020, Sony Music India released the song Genda Phool performed by rapper Badshah and singer Payal Dev, featuring Jacqueline Fernandes. The song was derived from a 70s Bengali folk song, of the same name, written by Ratan Kahar and this rendition invited a lot of criticism from the Bengali audience. The childish rap, an explicit choreography, and the heavily auto-tuned vocals are justified with negative reviews, but the biggest conundrum with the song is plagiarism.
Just to brief you up with the rules, Genda Phool is a folk song, which means the people’s song; hence, it is not subject to copyright. Therefore, Sony Music India was not obliged to pay a fee to Ratan Kahar. But the highlight of the legal matter was the use of the Bengali hook line (Boroloker bitilo…) without giving any credit to the original lyricist, Ratan Kahar. Mr Kahar confessed he didn’t have any money to fight a legal battle against Sony, but the uproar of his fandom finally compelled Badshah to pay Ratan Kahar a sum of five lakhs in good terms.
Rewind-Repeat
A month later, T-Series launched Masakali 2.0, which also received similar criticisms in a different context. The song is both musically and visually a downgrade from the Delhi-6 original. The 2020 version was barraged with dislikes on Youtube which consequently prompted T-Series to remove the dislike count from their post. Siddharth Malhotra, who featured in the music video has welcomed the criticisms stating they are “completely valid” and remarks that the entire team behind the music video shares the blame for its failure.
The decision to recreate and bastardize an iconic song also didn’t please the artists of the original Masakali. In an interview, singer Mohit Chauhan said that the 2020 song shouldn’t be called Masakali 2.0 when it doesn’t sound anything close to the original song he sang. Music director and lyricist of Masakali, A. R. Rahman and Prasoon Joshi, respectively, expressed their dismay through social media posts, while also reminded the viewers about the emotions and dedication towards the creation of Masakali for Delhi-6 and asked the audience to cherish its originality.
After learning about the backend process and frontend outcomes of the Bollywood music industry, the following questions tinkle in my mind. Why do music directors resort to plagiarism despite mastering the art? Are music label companies running out of new ideas? And how can such unethical and disastrous practices be prevented? Let us discuss all these questions in the following segments.
Control+C, Control+V
Dear reader, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and spare a moment to think of the first name that pops up when you hear the word plagiarism. Is it Turnitin? Just kidding! It definitely would be Pritam Chakraborty. According to Rolling Stone India, “Indian music plagiarism tracking site www.itwofs.com alleges 52 instances between 2004 and 2010 where Pritam’s songs are said to be “lifted,” “copied,” “plagiarized” or “similar” to those of tunes by other composers, who range from not-so-well-known Arab and South-East Asian artists to biggies like Boney M. and Damien Rice.”
2008’s Race is the album most notably to bring Pritam into the limelight for plagiarism. The songs Pehli Nazar Mein and Zara Zara were direct copies of Korean song Sarang Hae Yo (my favourite Korean song) and Leehom Wang’s “Deep Within a Bamboo Grove,” respectively. Tips Industries ended up paying damages to Sony BMG Taiwan for Zara Zara.
Although revelations of music plagiarism have found the centre stage in recent years it is an age-old phenomenon in the Bollywood music industry. Let us rewind time and explore a few examples. R. D. Burman directly ripped off Leo Slayer’s When I need you (1977) to create his most iconic song Tumse Milke (1989). Sliding into Disco, the tune of Bappi Lahiri’s Koi Yahaan Naache (1982) is copied from Video Killed the Radio Star (1979) by Buggles.
The 90s era danced on plagiarised music, and the biggest player at that time was Nadeem-Shravan. The musical duo plagiarised western songs throughout their career until their split. They gained fame through Aashiqui (1990); sadly its most iconic song Dheere Dheere is copied from Joyce Sims’ Come into my Life (1987). If you think Pritam is the King of Plagiarism, then let me introduce to God himself— Anu Malik.
In the early 2000s, Anu Malik was really “on fire” copying music from everywhere in every movie. Anu Malik has been especially criticized for directly copying Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s qawwalis without crediting him. He is delusional about his plagiarised work, proclaiming himself to be inspired by great musicians. You can check his plagiarised songs here.
In my view, none of these artists are bad. I am a big fan of Pritam; I believe Life in a Metro is the best Bollywood album of all time. On the other hand, Anu Malik has delivered National Award-winning songs in Refugee. And ironically, Bappi Lahiri’s iconic Jimmy Jimmy has been sampled by American and Russian artists. In conclusion, all of them and many more are copycats with great taste in music.
Law And Order
Now you must be thinking, “How to protect a song from plagiarism?” One major law protecting musicians’ interests is the Copyright Act, 1957 which was amended and came into effect from June 21, 2012. The amendments to the Copyright Act in 2012 have given better ownership control to songwriters, composers, and musicians working in the Indian film industry, more than the producers and record labels. The revisions declare the song creators as owners of the copyright and have made royalty payment by broadcasters to them mandatory. The amendment also specifies that a cover version may only be created after five years from the first recording of the song.
Normally the case of plagiarism is settled with the payment of damages. For example, in 2008 Rajesh Roshan had to pay ₹2 crore to Ram Sampath for plagiarising his Sony Ericsson jingle, The Thump in the title track of Krazzy 4 following the restraining order on the release of Krazzy 4 made by the Bombay High Court. In rare scenarios, the original artists let go of the matter considering every song to be a different fish living in the same vast musical ocean.
Remix, Revamp And Render
The “Revamp Era” began with the release of Dilbar in 2018. The music video featuring Nora Fatehi belly dancing to the remix of Alka Yagnik’s 1999 song received 20 million views on its release date on Youtube and became the most viewed video of T-Series. Composer Tanishk Bagchi also garnered praise for using Oud and Arabic percussions making the song more catchy. Its popularity reached its peak with the release of an Arabic version under the banner of T-Series.
Although Bollywood witnessed many revamps and remixes in the early 2010s, Dilbar became the break-even point for what would become an era-defining trend. The revamp trend not only became annoyingly successful but also rejuvenated the careers of musician Tanishk Bagchi, singer Neha Kakkar, and rapper Badshah.
Despite huge success, the revamp trend has its share of criticism. The biggest problem of the trend is that it kills the authenticity of original songs very much to the dismay of the original composers. Vishal Dadlani was among the first to protest against the trend in a tweet warning to sue the entities who attempt to remix his original compositions. Badshah was the first artist to agree with Dadlani’s statement who ironically was slammed by singer Dr Zeus for using his song Don’t Be Shy (2006) in 2019’s Bala without crediting him (Yes, again!).
Before we go ahead, I must remind you that the remix trend first happened in the early 2000s. Famous singers like Shaan and Sonu Nigam were also a part of that trend. It was very similar to the revamp trend, but why was the remix trend more welcomed than the revamp trend by the public? Despite facing criticisms for the apparent sexualization of songs like Kaanta Laga, the remix era brought a new wave of urban music and became a symbol of youth. The trend of the 2000s did kill the authenticity of the original songs of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, but unlike the revamp era, it didn’t tamper the originality of those songs. The remix era was the replica of the true form of the Golden Era, but the revamp era is simply a cheap and tampered copy of its predecessors.
The Usual Suspects
Considering the damage this revamp trend has done to the music industry, it is justified to be angry at the driving force of the trend. To whoever I speak, all of them point their fingers at the Unholy Trinity of Badshah, Neha Kakkar, and Tanishk Bagchi. In my view, I don’t consider Badshah an artist because he is nothing but the bling and ludicrous rhymes. Neha Kakkar has never been a competent singer since her days of participation in Indian Idol 2. She heavily depends on auto-tune and her lack of talent clearly shows up in her live shows, where she presents more dance than vocals. Finally, Tanishk Bagchi comes from a musical background and he has mentioned that his parents hate remixes. He is a natural artist but he is too coward to follow an artistic path and has instead chosen to run after money.
I believe their earnings are unfair because these three are minting in millions making covers while indie artists out there are struggling to sell their original albums.
Master Of Puppets
While the three horsemen of the musical apocalypse are the frontrunners of the revamp era, the fourth horseman is the Master of Puppets. And it is none other than T-Series. FYI, T-Series had been releasing covers of old songs during the 90s under Gulshan Kumar (Founder), who faced his “shot” of criticism then, but the difference between then and now is more financial and political power.
Currently, in the helm of his son, Bhushan Kumar, T-Series has upscaled in both reach and finance through social media platforms. T-Series also has gained political support from the Central Government after the release of PM Modi film (conspiracy theory). The mix of both financial and political prowess gives T-Series the capitalistic power to discretely purchase copyrights and make remixes without being accused of monopolizing the music industry by any other music label company. In short, T-Series is the Reliance and Bhushan Kumar is the Mukesh Ambani of the music industry.
Art Vs Product
The Bollywood music industry is a supply-driven economy. Whatever the music label companies release becomes overhyped by the majority. This encourages music label companies to stick to the trend and create a repetitive style of music to attract the general crowd. In an interview, Bhushan Kumar asserted his business ideals of choosing to deliver what the general masses want. He also highlighted that the admirers of pure musical artistry comprise only 1% of the total mass, hence, it is unprofitable for him to cater to that niche. This hurts the livelihood of music directors who decline to work on remixes.
In such a case, music label companies contract a fixed group of artists who work for them; the rest wait for the royalty due to them, since, the copyright of songs is owned by the company. The Indian Performing Rights Society, which comprises composers, singers, and lyricists, reportedly filed an FIR against Yash Raj Films alleging that the production company has collected over ₹100 crore in music royalty, which belongs to members of the IPRS.
Other than Yash Raj Films, T-Series is also one of many music label companies who have not paid royalties to their artists for decade-old work though they are earning in millions through remixes. Unfortunately, due to such practices, modern music has become less of an art and more of a product; music no more a gateway to express emotions but a commercial tool. So it is up to you to choose whether you want to feel human through pure art or become a bee to the flower of capitalism.