In a trend of sorts, big banner production houses hunt for already popular tracks from independent singers and re-use them in their films to good effect. But the independent music industry is divided in its opinion on whether this is benefiting them or robbing them of credit. Sangeeta Yadav lists some issues that keep popping up every time a track re-modelled and re-used in a film gets noticed
Ready-to-eat foods, readymade garments and now it’s time for readymade songs — just pick any foot-tapping number from an album, add a few dhingchak beats to it and you have a perfect superhit song readymade for an upcoming Bollywood masala film. Guess whatIJ This tried and tested formula has worked every time. For instance, saddi gali from Tanu Weds Manu was in reality composed by lehmber Hussainpuri and featured in his album. The movie is better known for this song rather than the film itself.
Only recently, the number Saturday Saturday from Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya made waves with moviegoers, but the peppy song has been in circulation since Badshah (the lead vocalist) and Indeep Bakshi released it in their album in 2012.
“When Saturday Saturday was launched two-years ago, it became a hit in Punjab and there was a huge demand for it in discotheques. The song was a chartbuster long before it featured in HSKD. As independent artists, we shot the original video in `9 lakh. But when we re-shot it for HSKD featuring Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan, it cost a whopping `3 crore! I’m not complaining because through the movie, my song has now reached an international platform. A lot more people are listening to it and have been addicted,” Punjabi rapper Badshah tells you.
For him, it’s a blessing in disguise for an independent singer like him to get his song featured in a Bollywood film. “In the film industry, the song treatment differs as producers are willing to pay huge amounts to glorify the item numbers. But more than the money spent in the remaking, it’s the reach that Bollywood has which makes it a blessing for independent singers like me. I was thrilled to hear Saturday Saturday playing in pubs in london on a recent trip,” Badshah says.
Original se thoda hatke
Apart from the royalty and other commercial benefits that an independent singer makes on his track, he is also told that the song will be tweaked (to some extent) to give it a different feel. “When it comes to selling the rights of the music, we make sure that the song isn’t a replica of the original. It has to be picturised well, could be re-mixed and should be in context of the story. We give the liberty to the music director to re-interpret the song in a different manner. Tweaking is also ok,” Sanujeet Bhujabal, marketing director, Sony Music India, tells you.
Fad nowadays
Big banners are approaching independent singers for their popular tracks to include in their upcoming projects. In some cases, this readymade borrowing has not gone down well with playback singers and music composers as they feel their position has been compromised.
“It’s a sad state. Our composers aren’t taking up the challenge of coming out with original scores. They find it easier to borrow chartbusters from independent artists and make it their own. But some diligent directors like Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Farhan Akthar work for many years just to finalise on original music for their films. For music lovers like me, I would prefer the longer route and experiment with songs rather than take a shortcut,” playback singer Shruti Pathak, who has given hits like Tujhe Bhula Diya (Anjaana Anjaani) and Mar Jawaan (Fashion), tells you.
Due credit an issue
In the remake of a song, credit is given to the one who dubs it in his or her own version. The original singer and composer find no mention in the credit line of the movie.
“It’s not as if the entire independent music scene will die without the support from Bollywood. Such artists will keep churning out hit albums. But every independent artist cherishes a dream to get their work featured in Bollywood. They sell their music for recognition. But if the creator doesn’t get due credit, it will be unfair. Even if the song is altered or dubbed by some other artists to fit the situation, a special credit to the creator has to be given,” singer Kavita Paudwal who has sung Ye Galiyan Ye Chaubara from the movie Suno Sasur Ji, explains.
Paid promotion
With the advent of paid telecast, hardly any channel plays the songs on TV on the basis of their popularity. “The biggest challenge that comes in the way of independent music artist is promoting it in a bigger platform. TV channels promote Bollywood music only and it’s all paid promotion. Even if a handful radio channels play the music from an album, it’s for a short time, which doesn’t reach a large audience. YouTube and music platforms online are helpful in promotion but that is nothing in comparison with Bollywood,” singer Neha Kakkar, who gave hit numbers like Sunny Sunny (Yaariyan), london Thumukda (Queen), etc tells you.