There are quite a few popular Hindi songs that have been inspired by or directly copied from international tracks, and it’s often surprising to discover the original sources. Some of these songs became massive hits, even though they were not entirely original compositions.
While it’s common for music across the globe to take inspiration from different cultures and genres, there’s a fine line between being inspired and directly copying. When a Hindi song lifts the tune or melody from an international track without proper credit, it undermines the creativity of the original artist.
Bollywood usually takes a simple way out. There has been a scarcity of original songs in Bollywood films, with every other musical offering being remixed or recreated. Although there has been an overabundance of adaptations in recent times, the 1980s and 1990s were no exception.
We were completely unaware that some of the most famous performers’ iconic and classic songs had been copied. They differed, though, in that some like direct lifts while others wisely tweaked it to suit their personal preferences. Here is the collection of 8 well-known Bollywood songs that were plagiarised.
Mehbooba Mehbooba
It stings to learn that one of our beloved melodies from the 1970s, sung by R D Burman, was not unique. It was plagiarized from the renowned Greek artist Mihalis Violaris’ song “Ta Rialia.”
Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo Dil Ko
This was another fantastic classic from the 1970s, performed by R D Burman. However, the lyrics and tune were wholly stolen from a song by Bojoura, a folk and pop performer, titled “If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium.”
Tera Mujhse Hai Pehle
Even today, couples still choose to dedicate this melody to their life partner. However, one of the finest romantic songs of the 1970s was also plagiarized. It was copied from one of the most well-known American folk songs by “The Yellow Rose of Texas.” song by Mitch Miller.
Dhoom Machale from Dhoom
We still remember the hookup steps of this song, right? Perhaps, one of the most energetic songs from 2004 was also copied. It was inspired by a song called Mario Takes a Walk by Jesse Cook.
Suniye Toh
Remember when singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya won numerous awards for his voice because of this song? In reality, the song dominated the chartbusters for quite some time. Unfortunately, this was also a duplicate of Hisham Abbas’s Egyptian pop song “Ahla Ma Feki.”
Kya Mujhe Pyar Hai
This song that helped every ’90s youngster fall in love and believe in love was a copy of Tak Bisakah sung by Peterpan.
Pal pal
The cheerful tune went on to become the perfect dissing song for young couples. The tunes were created by Cliff Richard’s song Theme for a Dream.
Pehli Nazar
Although this may be upsetting for some, it doesn’t change the reality that the song was not written by them. It was copied from Kim Hyung Su’s song Sarang Hae. We are sorry if we have spoiled it for you!