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Indian music directors have always been inspired by foreign melodies. Many of our prestigious music composers haven’t been able to resist the temptation of borrowing or copying musical tunes from some famous songs belonging to different parts of the world. Sometimes, maybe it’s not that bad to take something good from someone.

So, let us read about a few famous Bollywood songs which have been copied from well-loved foreign songs.

Pal Pal Har Pal

Music: Shantanu Moitra

Lyrics: Swanand Kirkire

Singers: Shreya Ghoshal, Sonu Nigam

This harmonious and catchy song sung by Shreya Ghoshal was a huge hit in 2006. We first heard it in the film ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’, a box office sensation starring Sanjay Dutt. The film not only popularised Gandhigiri but gave us some of the finest Bollywood songs like ‘Pal Pal Pal Pal Har Pal Har Pal’. The music for this song has been borrowed from Cliff Richard’s song ‘Theme For a Dream’. ‘Cause You’re My Theme For A Dream, Yes You Are, A Rare And Lovely Theme’ is the track from the 1961 movie ‘The Young Ones’ starring Richard himself.

Dhoom Machale Dhoom

Music: Pritam Chakraborty

Lyrics: Sameer Anjaan

Singers: Aditi Singh Sharma

‘Dhoom Machale Dhoom’ a funky and entertaining track from the 2004 Indian action thriller film ‘Dhoom’ starring John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan would be on every person’s lips way back in 2004/2005. We just loved this song way more than anything else, but we didn’t know that it had been copied from Jesse Cook’s musical masterpiece ‘Mario Takes A Walk’ from his 1996 Jazz & New Flamenco album ‘Gravity’. Jesse Cook is a Canadian guitarist, composer and producer.

Maine Tujhko Dekha / Neend Churayi Tune

Music: Amaal Mallik, Anu Malik

Lyrics: Kumaar, Rahat Indori

Singers: Neeraj Sridhar, Sukriti Kakkar

The new ‘Maine Tujhko Dekha’ song from ‘Golmaal Again’ was copied from ‘Neend Churayi Maine’ which was heard in the 1997 comedy-drama film ‘Ishq’ starring Ajay Devgan, Kajol, Juhi Chawla and Aamir Khan, but we never knew that even ‘Neend Churayi Maine’ is an imitation of the pop melody ‘Sending All My Love’ by Tolga or Linear, an American freestyle pop trio from Miami, Florida.

Pretty Woman

Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

Lyrics: Javed Akhtar

Singers: Shankar Mahadevan, Ravi rags Khote

‘Pretty Woman, Hey Pretty Woman, Dekho Dekho Na Pretty Woman, Pretty Woman’, the spellbinding track from ‘Kal Ho Na Ho’ captivated Bollywood Music lovers from all around the world, but the breathtaking music by the trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is an imitation of Roy Orbison’s ‘Oh Pretty Woman’ from his album ‘Orbisongs’ released in 1965. Do listen to this enchanting song and it is sure to leave a deep imprint on your heart forever and ever.

Auva Auva Koi Yahaan Nache

Music: Bappi Lahiri

Lyrics: Farooq Qaiser

Singers: Bappi Lahiri, Usha Uthup

‘Koi Yaha Aha Nache Nache, Koi Vaha Aha Nache Nache, Auva Auva, Auva Auva’ from the 1982 Indian Musical Drama ‘Disco Dancer’ starring Mithun Chakraborty was a smashing, super-duper hit. People back then loved dancing to the songs from ‘Disco Dancer’, they danced so much even during the screening of the movie in halls that some movie halls were reported to have been damaged because of it. It was copied from the hugely popular 1980 song ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ by ‘The Buggles’, an English New Wave band formed in London, England by singer & bassist Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoffrey Downes.

Om Shanti Om

Music: Laxmikant Pyarelal

Lyrics: Anand Bakshi

Singers: Kishore Kumar

We love waving our hands to the song ‘Om Shanti Om’ from the 1980 thriller film ‘Karz’ directed by Subhash Ghai. Rishi Kapoor, Tina Munim and Simi Garewal played the lead roles in the film. This song was actually inspired by Ras Shorty I’s peaceful and heart touching melody ‘Om Shanty Om’. Ras Shorty I is popularly known as Lord Shorty and was a Trinidadian Calypso and Soca Musician.

Well, Now you know where these famous Bollywood songs actually came from. Bollywood has always been influenced by many foreign as well as Indian regional songs. We’ll talk about the Indian influences some other time :). To enjoy all the above mentioned Bollywood numbers visit http://gaanap.com/shared/, to play Bollywood Musical games or to read the blogs and reviews click on GaanaP and download the App now! 🙂

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