‘Aashiqui songs are actually Pakistani tracks’

Indian composer talks plagiarised music

In a surprising revelation, Lalit Pandit, one-half of the famous composer duo Jatin-Lalit, has accused Nadeem-Shravan of plagiarising Pakistani tracks for the iconic 1990 film Aashiqui. The romantic drama, directed by Mahesh Bhatt, is renowned for its memorable soundtrack, which played a crucial role in cementing Nadeem-Shravan’s reputation in Bollywood.

In an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Lalit Pandit shed light on the origins of these beloved songs, claiming that they were not entirely original compositions. He said: “Honestly, Nadeem-Shravan’s music was not of our style. Most of the songs that they had done at that time were… So Nadeem would go to Dubai, from there he would buy a lot of Pakistani cassettes, get them here reproduce. The entire industry knows this.”

He furthered, Aashiqui songs are actually Pakistani tracks, with words (retained). Many of the songs! The music of a composer should reflect their style. If you listen to ours, you’d instantly know it is Jatin-Lalit music, because everything was done by us.”

When questioned about whether Jatin-Lalit ever took inspiration from other global music, Lalit admitted, “Inspiration is a must, even we have been inspired. But that involves a different way of working. Jatin was a truly original composer, he would get inspired by other track, but he would never completely lift a song. In fact, I was the one who would take some bits from English songs that I had heard. So I would mix bits and pieces, and only I would know what I had done. But Jatin was a pure composer.”

The original Aashiqui, starring Rahul Roy and Annu Agarwal, turned both actors into overnight sensations. The franchise continued to flourish with Aashiqui 2, featuring Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor, which also enjoyed significant success. Recently, discussions surfaced about Aashiqui 3, with Triptii Dimri and Kartik Aaryan starring. However, the project has reportedly encountered legal complications.