CUT, COPY, PASTE TO FAME
What inspires somebody to copy?
Is it lack of ability to compose? Is it laziness to
experiment? Is it demand of the investors? Is it pressure from the director? Is
it trying to please the Heroes? Is it survival?
The word inspiration is cool for all definitions and
excuses. Listening and feeling good and getting motivated to achieve something
similar are inspiration. Listening, recording in Ipods, downloading into
computers, asking a keyboard programmer to create the same music, getting
another language lyric written, getting it sung by local singer and masking it
with regional designs is not Inspiration.
It is as good as stealing; repainting and selling a stolen
car. So why call them Music directors, instead call them Pirates of Caribbean,
wandering outside music stores for new English releases. Those who wish not
spending Rs.499/- on a MJ album end up buying a Rs.99/- Mika Singh album and paint it all over
tollywood as choopultho guchi guchi …
Music directors complain that they come under huge pressure
from film makers and producers to use hit tunes from other languages. So how
far is this right?
Dr.Bunty a famous music director of Ruthuragalu fame quotes,
“My first film was Hyderabad Blues with Nagesh Kukunoor, even though it was my first opportunity, I insisted that I would not copy and Kukunoor also received it positively and encouraged me. In another instance, I used an andhra folk tune for a song Nanda re, for the film Tholi Parichayam and assured that the original song credits were printed on the cassette inlay".
7 notes of music is a door to infinity. Then, where is the
need to repeat, why can’t a music director who is one of the key technicians of
a project Big or small, suggest to change the notations a bit to accommodate
the interest of the producer and still maintain not to lift the original as it
is? How difficult is it to compose similar tune? Maybe not but I remember
listening to this song in childhood that is composed by the evergreen composer
pancham DA (R.D.BURMAN), Milgay Humko saathi Milgaya …… oh oh jalnede …
Now I continue this song with the lyric MAMMA MIA, Here I go
again Mamma How can I resist it…. Of ABBA. The song of Pancham Da is from Hum
Kisise Kum Nahin film. I understand if composers of lesser talent having to
stoop down, but what befell greats like RD to resort to such daylight
robberies.
Acts like these leave us with a feeling that we have to be
on the prowl searching for the original compositions of every hit song done by
Indian composers.
We hate west, we criticize their movies, Remember the
dialogue emphasized in the classic film Sankarabharanam by K.vishwanath, all
time great Indian Film Director, “artha rathri appa rathri lekunda aa gavu
kekalemiti?”; meaning What is this cacophony? The western music aspirants were shown in poor light in that particular scene.Anyways that is just fiction but the point is the seed that is implanted in our minds about not accepting western music, be it classical or pop few decades ago. Then why use it here and win accolades for what does not belong to us. So the point is not that we do not appreciate other country music, it is just a psychological barrier to accept others' greatness.
Then why are the so called Indian greats, getting away with their
existence unnoticed by using and surviving on such CACAPHONY? If it were
cacophony then why use it? Why sell it in India ? There is no check on songs being used from albums of Backstreet boys (you know what I am referring to?), MJ, cotton eye joe, george Micheal and many more.
I am not a western music buff or western music is not my
religion. My point is about the Hypocrisy. A composer can copy, but
provided he has the decency to acknowledge the original in your album, write
a note of appreciation for the art work from which they have got inspired with
or pay up royalties for dubbing it into their regional language.
Now if somebody comes up that none of these above are
suitable to accommodate in their project then that is an absolute LIE.
Using an original song and layer it with Indian rythms or
sounds and so on is what a remix DJ does. The question then arises, why term
DJ’s as remix composers since what they are doing is just as similar to what
our contemporary composers are up to? So why not call our composers as REMIX
KINGS?
I have used by recomposing a rhythm loop of MJ in a song of
my film Samudram. I have endorsed this fact in my feature in Deccan
chronicle that I got inspired by the rhythm and I used the 5 sec loop of rhythm
and structured an altogether different melody on it.
Many of us feel like expressing the truth but are held back
due to fears and inhibitions. All I can pray to fellow composers is to be more
expressive in music to churn out own compositions; if not at least be more
expressive in admitting the truth.
CUT PASTE AND COPY TO FAME is not worthy at all.
The below links have
been explored by some music buffs and ardent followers of variousmusic. Their
claims are partially correct. All you have to do is spend some time on browsing
the following links that will reveal some hidden truth about many composers who
have claimed some hit songs to be their sweat.
