Guess who's joined the Elite Copycat League?

For me, the two (un)distinguished members of the league have always been Bappi Lahiri and Anu Malik. Now, Pritam lays claim for making a grand entry into that league.

As per the Wikipedia Entry,

Pritam's music is catchy and is very popular with younger listeners. However, he has often been criticised for plagiarism. Pritam counters that he is simply "inspired" by various musical sources and cites his sources whenever appropriate.

Typical Copycat Behavior, innit? While Anu Malik and Bappi were stupid to lift directly from the biggest hits of their time, Pritam plays it clever by lifting tunes from music that us Indians would not have much exposure to. Here are a few samples.

Ya Ali (Gangster):

When I reviewed the Gangster soundtrack, I reserved special mention for this song, saying it was the best track of the album. Well, here's the original (Thanks, YouTube!). Composed by a Kuwaiti (or from some other arbit Arab country, I am unsure) group called Guitara (which, it looks like, faced a cash crunch while making the video), it "inspired" Pritam into making a song which sounds eeriely like it. Pbhhtt!




Kya mujhe Pyaar Hai (Woh lamhe):

This song is shaping up to become a massive hit, in the lines of Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai (waitaminnit, is this a flicked tune too?? Will Investigate and put up a post). This one's "Inspired" by the song "Tak Bisamah" by an Indonesian group PeterPan



Bheegi Bheegi (Gangster):

Maybe I can cut him slack here. The song is attributed to Mohiner Ghoraguli bandleader Gautam Chatterjee on the album cover. If only he did this with every song that he got "inspired" by. Listen to the original Bengali version here.

Update: My suspicion turned out true. Even "Tuhi Meri Shab Hai" is a lift. Download the original here

Update 2: This is a great place to find out more about plagarism of music in the Indiam Film Industry. Songs that I never thought/realised were lifted from other sources turned up here! Enjoy!!