Life & Style

'Gabbar is Back' item number rips off Pakistani song

Find out where the item number got its lyrics from

Entertainment Desk April 17, 2015

KARACHI: The latest song for Akshay Kumar's upcoming movie Gabbar is Back is out - and will immediately ring a bell for anyone who has had even the slightest experience of travelling on a Pakistani bus.

By the looks of it, Aao Raja has all the ingredients of a typical Indian item number, with Chitrangada Singh setting the screen on fire with her seductive moves, smoky makeup and sultry outfits.

The lyrics, on the other hand, would remind Punjabi movie-goers quite a bit of Kundi na Kharka Sohneya from Shaan and Saima starrer Naseebo.

Watch Chitrangada Singh sizzle on screen here:

Compare it with the Pakistani version here:

This is not the first time that Bollywood has plagiarized Pakistani music, with several hundreds of songs over at least five decades either borrowing heavily or "drawing inspiration" from Pakistani movies as well as from pop music.

These songs have included several hits that have taken audiences on both sides of the border by storm. A complete list being too long to share, we at The Express Tribune decided to shortlist the top 10:

1. Munni Badnaam Hui (Dabangg)

This famous item number bears a strong resemblance to the qawwali Larka Badnam Hua Haseena Tere Liye from the 1992 Pakistani film Mr. Charlie starring comedian Omar Sharif.

You can view the item number here:

Compare it to the original:

2. Main Na Jhoot Bolun (Indrajeet)

This song from the 1991 Amitabh-starrer Indrajeet may not be familiar to most, but we are sure that very few will be able to miss the unmistakeable beat in the background.

Created in the 1980s, this is the music that is characteristic of every PPP election campaign and rally.

3. Dil Dil Hindustan (Yaadon ke Mausam)

Even patriotic songs were not spared. Check out this patriotic number from little-known 1991 film Yaadon ke Mausam.

Compare it with the Vital Sign's mega-hit Dil Dil Pakistan which came out in 1987.

4. Mera Piya Ghar Aya (Yaraana)

This 1995 film may not have been very memorable, but Madhuri's dance steps in Mera Piya Ghar Aaya O Raam Ji remained in the hearts of her fans for quite some time.

This would remind Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan fans of his qawwali Mera Piya Ghar Aya which was first heard two years prior.

5. Tu Cheez Bari Hai Mast (Mohra)

The chemistry between Akshay Kumar and Raveena Tandon set the screen on fire in this song from 1994 blockbuster Mohra.

The Pakistani inspiration turned out to be the Sufi song Dam Mast Qalander Mast Mast, which had been set to music by several artists including Abida Parveen, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the Sabri brothers, Reshma and Madam Noor Jehan. Compare the tune in the Mohra remake to Nusrat Fateh Ali's rendition here:

6. Hum Bhool Gaye Re Har Baat (Souten ki Beti)

Rekha crooned along to Lata Mangeshkar in this soulful melody from 1989 film Souten ki Beti:

The song, right down to the lyrics, were in reality lifted from this song from Pakistani film Saheli released in 1960.

Those who have watched the movie might also recognize the lyrics, if not the melody, of this song as well.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan again:

7. Lambi Judai (Jannat)

The Indian version appeared in Emraan Hashmi's 2008 film Jannat...

...and turned out to be heavily inspired by folk singer Reshman's original:

8. Kadi te Has Bol (Love Aaj Kal)

The words Kadi te Has Bol can be heard in the soundtrack of the song Aahun Aahun from the 2009 film Love Aaj Kal.

Before this an Indian pop-music version was also made in the late 90's.

The Pakistani original was sung by Shaukat Ali:

9. Buhat Pyar Karte Hain Tumko Sanam (Saajan)

One of the songs from the 1991 romantic movie that established Madhuri Dixit and Salman Khan as one of the most iconic on-screen couples...

...actually heavily borrowed from the song Buhat Khoobsurat Hai Mera Sanam sung by Mehdi Hasan for the 1978 film Abshar.

10. Agar Tum Mil Jao (Zeher)

Two versions of the song Agar Tum Mil Jao were seen in the 2005 Emraan Hashmi starrer Zeher. Check out one of these versions here:

While the tune was changed beyond recognition, the lyrics are eerily similar to the ones from the 1974 Tasawwar Khanum original:

COMMENTS (22)

Muhammad Suleman | 8 years ago | Reply Another examples are: Original Paksitani: Batiyan Bhujaye Rakh di (Shazia Manzoor) Indian Copied: Shawa Shawa Mahiya Original Paksitani: Disco Diwanay (Nazia Hassan) Indian Copied: Disco Diwanay (Film: Student of the Year)

Jim Cranbrook | 8 years ago | Reply Pakistani music has a rich history. Indian music is a little pretentious, trying hard to emulate Western sounds. Pakistani music, especially the works of Abida Parveen, Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, NoorJehan, Atif Aslam, Ali Zafar, Adnan Sami, Hadiqa Kiyani etc. are rich with the magic of the land. I'm not surprised that India has taken from them. Icons such as Abida Parveen, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Atif Aslam are adored around the world. India, despite having great folk artistes, does not really have a great international following in terms of music. Look at the number of admirers for Atif Aslam, Abidaji etc. They outweigh any celebrity India has produced. And the fact is, no one can match up to the voice of legends. I think India should promote their folk/classical/sufi artistes more. Ila Arun, Shubha Mudgal, Kavita Seth etc. They need to be out there instead of Himesh Reshammiya, Anu Malik and the embarassing Yo Yo Honey Singh. Then perhaps, India and Pakistan can come together musically and show the world the power of their lands because the truth is: The voices of the soil, the folk musicians of both countries are outstanding and original.

VIEW MORE COMMENTS

karachite | 9 years ago | Reply Errrr...just as i clicked to play the first video, there was an ad of kingtox spray, featuring... errrr....PK! The point is, no doubt india has copied/ripped off the songs mentioned above, what pakistani artists/musicians could have done was sue them for infringement...did they? And for that they first have to seek some protection in the form of copyright or related rights, which not many in our industry care about! There is no use in playing the blame game but take notes from the damage done and take due measures in the future.

lolpk | 9 years ago | Reply there is no comparison between both songs music GABBAR IS BACK song is much much better than older pkistani song and only one word is taken from older which dosn`t matter first see the quality of our song and if pakistini think they have better creativity then why pakis looser always used to listning our song even in their marrige and in award function they play indian song and blame india for paligrism pakistan is such a looser only know to blame

Adnan | 9 years ago | Reply Seriously? We are arguing about songs being inspired or being copied!!! Have any you watched a typical Pakistani movie in theatre? Not just 1 song but at least 2 or 3 songs are a complete copy of Indian songs. Sometimes the whole damn movie is a complete cheap rip off. In truth some of the songs Indian's have copied they have made it much better. I'd rather listen to the Indian version than Pakistani version, and I bet even you do the same but just wont admit it. Thanks India for doing a wonderful job with some of those songs!!!

Emjay | 9 years ago | Reply Yes, I agree with Weirdity. We Pakistanis should also start ripping stuff from left, right and center and become like Indian film industry. Thank you India for showing us the light! And people countering these plagiarism allegations with lame retorts like, jihad, bomb blasts, etc... that's like countering Bollywood copying Pakistani music by mentioning their spectacular rape records. Please.

Weirdity | 9 years ago | Reply Wow! Thank you Pakistan! Without Pakistan, Bollywood will be like the Pakistan film industry!

Hmm | 9 years ago | Reply Yes, Pakistanis had inherited these from their moghul masters . In fact they had created the Hindi film industry also. Do you know anything except bombing and crying over loud-speaker ? Day in and day out, poor Pakistanis are coming to Indian cities in search of jobs and see the attitude.

pichkari | 9 years ago | Reply Get over it pakistanis. A couple of hundred songs from a pool of hundred thousad is like drop in an ocean. Perhaps they took a leaf out of the Chinese handbook of creativity,really popular in pak lol. Waise seriousy speaking some of the older versions still sound better haha.

goggi (Lahore) | 9 years ago | Reply The difference is qualitative! The Pakistani songs have a Soul whereas the Bollywood imitations are purely cheap commercials for a respective audience!

daanish khan | 9 years ago | Reply @Zaib-un-Nissa Jahanara: couldnt have said it better myself. indians suffer from a deep rooted inferiority complex when it comes to anything pakistan related. mr. irony obviously had a fit of inferiority complex strike him where it hurts (gonads?) and had to spew his unusually lame defence of his motherlands blatant and absurd level of plagiarism.

Indian Guy | 9 years ago | Reply Yeah I agree with the author that all the songs mentioned have been to varying extent based on the Pakistani versions. You can look at it positively though. As someone said, "Imitation is the best form of flattery". And this happens with Indian songs too. For eg. there are at least 3 songs by Black-eyed-peas which are based on Indian songs, there are around 3 European songs that are based on the song "Dance pe chance maar le" from the movie 'Rab ne bana di jodi'. Ideally the later artist should give some kind of credit to the original artist, but in reality this does not happen all the time. And, this is not unique to the Indo-Pak thing. You might also be aware that there lots of Pakistani versions of popular bollywood songs. Also, to be honest, apart from the song by Nusrat Fateh ali Khan, in all the other cases there is some value addition to the original song and the revision sounds much better than the original.

Sal | 9 years ago | Reply @Pity: Yes they are creative and much more ahead of us. Just because they copied a few songs does not define their film industry. What do you have in terms of creativity? Molvis, bombings, murders, honor killings, child rapes, jihad? List goes on.

InsaanHawaan | 9 years ago | Reply Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Zaib-un-Nissa Jahanara | 9 years ago | Reply @Irony: Contrary to your ridiculous post and failed attempt to contrive a justification for what is a blatant thieving of an original piece of creative expression, your views spew an inherent sense of underlying bigotry fuelled by a news media which is a sewer of hate. Your idea that Pakistanis can’t create anything themselves is hilarious verging on desperate – lost on the situational irony of your post made worse by a foolhardy attempt at veiling marked deliberate deceptiveness as “influence” rather than for what it really is – plagiarism! Unlike your inference, the Pakistani music scene is far superior and ahead of where India is at today, compounded by India ceding quality content and its musical traditions rooted with rich variety and history to a catchy tune, baby doll style lyrics and a porn star to entertain.

just_someone | 9 years ago | Reply What do you expect from no talent Indians?

Stranger | 9 years ago | Reply This has been going on for a long time .

sadaf | 9 years ago | Reply add to it the song "dil mera tor diya usne bura kiun maane of indian movie "kasoor" which is actually taken from from old pakistani movie "azmat", and was sung by "madam noor jahan"

lulz | 9 years ago | Reply @Irony: Theres a difference between drawing inspiration and plagiarism oh and i dont think the music OR the lyrics of dil dil pakistan or bhuttos campaign music or most of the other said songs has been around for eons neither and those songs which actually have been around for eons we dont care if you copy the lyrics but you peopld ripped off the tune of the song from us...im not saying you cant use our songs but atleast give the credit where its due And fyi bollywood has been ripping off from hollywood as well those scenes copied from 'the hitch' in your movie 'partner' and need i remind you of the blatant scene ripping off 'RA one' did you people have lost youre originality and talk about creativity like youre every movie is so diverse have ever scene your own movies? Every movie is the same..same plot same build up Same everything

Malveros | 9 years ago | Reply @Irony: It's not "inspiration". It's blatant cheating. I can see it in their engineers and IT Personnels worldwide as well churning out useless professionals from run of the mill universities. Same is the case with their chartered accountants. A bogus industry is flourishing across the border.

Irony | 9 years ago | Reply With all due respect, you Pakistanis are now behaving like real losers who can not create anything themselves but don't pass up a chance to talk big. First, there is nothing wrong in drawing "inspiration" from anywhere so long as one dramatically improves upon the original. And no matter how much Pakistanis might pat themselves on the back, objective observers can see both the Indian production and the so-called Pakistani one to make their own comparison. More importantly than that, to burst your bubble - most of these 'lyrics' 'tunes' etc that you claim to be 'Pakistani' are simply rip offs of the native music that has been common to Indo-Pak region for eons. Pakistan is still stuck at the rustic stage while India has moved on. It is time Pakistan actually copied and learned things from India and allowed any music or creativity to survive at home. But if it is only an exercise in feel-good, be our guest.

Pity | 9 years ago | Reply And Indians call themselves creative.......

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