Our outstanding film industry

The degree of plagiarism that has always existed is paralyzing. The worst part is that it exists not just blatantly, which everyone notices and comments on, but also on subtle and nuanced levels; and is pleased by the stalwarts of the Indian movement. How many times have we winced at the use of the James Bond theme song in the action sequences of so many Hindi movies from the 1960s and ’70s or have we been stumped by Shammi Kapoor singing? Yar Dilruba, the Hindi equivalent of Elvis’s Don’t be Cruel.

How so many English songs from eclectic sources ranging from ABBA to the Beatles and Osibisa and movie themes like Chariots of Fire have been blatantly adopted and adapted by leading Indian film music composers like RD Burman, Rajesh Roshan, OP Nayyar, et al defies logic (These guys were capable of composing amazing music on their own).

Many of the iconic songs from Hindi movies are takes from foreign compositions. Take the case of the famous uthe sab ke kadam which is nothing but Polly Wolly Doodle in Hindi. Then there’s the self-proclaimed cerebral filmmaker, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, in whose Parineeta, the inimitable Louis Armstrong’s iconic A Kiss to Build on Dream has been portrayed as kaise paheli hai yeh kaise. Sacrilege! The examples are so numerous that one cannot help but marvel at the shamelessness of it all.Jab Koi Baat Bigad Jaye It’s just when you miss the train I’m on The song Yeh hai Bombay meri jann, which is on the lips of every conceited Mumbiakar, is plagiarized from My Darling Clementine.

You could go on talking about the songs, but what about other aspects of our often vaunted filmmaking? Taking the example of Jodha Akbar, the highly acclaimed historical biopic from the highly respected Ashutosh Gowarlikar. The final one-on-one duel between Akbar and his nemesis is almost a replica of the duel between Hector and Achilles in the movie Troy.

Or take the case of the cult movie Agnipath, where Amitabh’s character basically repeats Al Pacino’s potrayal in Scarface, right down to the hoarse voice. All of this really shows two things. One that our filmmakers and composers are lazy people who prefer to play it safe and tweak world-class content conceptualized elsewhere. And secondly, they take advantage of the credulity and ignorance of the average Indian viewer who is unaware that his idols are taking him for a royal ride.

It is no wonder then that the country’s leading filmmakers, including the engine’s mouth and always with an opinion, Mahesh Bhatt is opposed to the release of international dubbed films in the Indian market as that would expose them to their core audience. By some strange coincidence, the very fashionable Mumbai-based film industry of the old Mumbai industrial club that resisted the entry of world-class products into India (remember the kind of cars we used to drive two decades back), the great Indian would want people to continue to be satisfied with ideas and themes plagiarized, remade and borrowed, transmitted as original content.

The time has come for someone to call the cat, expose those Bollywood charlatans (what a grotesque name) and warn them. Give us original material or we will get it ourselves from where it is available.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *