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Don’t you get this feeling sometimes when you hear some of our Bollywood songs? While our HFM is richly dipped in melody for the most part, there are occasions when this “Haven’t I heard that somewhere” feeling leads you quite often to the West wherein the “roots” of that tune lie …

• Pal Pal Pal (Lage Raho MunnaBhai, Shantanu Moitra) derived from “You Are My Theme For A Dream” by Anthony Adverse
• Oye Oye, Tirchhi Topi (Tridev, Viju Shah) derived from “Rhythm is Gonna Get You” by Gloria Estefan
• Hoton Pe Geet Jaage (Manpasand, Rajesh Roshan) came from “I Could Have Danced All Night”, Original soundtrack from “My Fair Lady”. Incidentally the movie was “inspired” from the same movie too.
• Mil Gaya, Humko Saathi (Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin, R.D.Burman) was “Mama Mia”  (ABBA) remastered
• Tere Naam Ke Hum Deewane Hain (Judaai, Laxmi-Pyare) was “Brown Girl in the Ring” by BoneyM rehashed
• Aate Jaate Hanste Gate (Maine Pyar Kiya, Ram-Laxman)  was Stevie Wonder’s  “I Just Called to Say”
• Haan Haan Yeh Pyaar Hai (Dillagi, Jatin-Lalit) used “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” by Frankie Valli. They made a direct lift from original, but it sounds beautiful in Hindi IMHO.
• Main Teri Hoon Jaanam (Khoon Bhari Maang, Rajesh Roshan) was a lift from the theme of “Chariots of Fire”
• Gair Ne Pyar Se … Mujhe Pyar Ho Chala (Bhagwan Dada, Rajesh Roshan) was  Laura Branigan’s “Self-Control”
• The peppy Dil Le Le Lena (Auzaar, Anu Malik) was actually “Macarena” by Los Del Rio
• The superhit Hari Om Hari (Pyaara Dushman, Bhappi Lahiri) was adapted from “One Way Ticket” (Eruption).
• Jaana Suno Hum Tumpe Marte Hain (Khamoshi, Jatin-Lalit) was copied note by note from “Bring The Wine” (Paul Anka)
• Dil Mera Churaya Kyun (Akele Hum Akele Tum, Anu Malik) was “Last Christmas I Gave you My Heart” (George Michael). The ironic thing in the movie was that Aamir Khan’s character sold this tune to another musician, and everyone made a big deal about “stealing” credit for another’s work!!!
• The uber-melodious Suno Zara, Suno Zara (Bada Din, Jatin-Lalit) sounds just like “You Needed Me” (Anne Murray)

Anu Malik went a step further and even “translated” the omnipresent “Happy Birthday” song into “Tera Gussa Haye Haye” (Kareeb (1998)). Taking that a notch higher, “Sun Sun Sun Barsaat Ki Dhun (Sir)” was Anu Malik’s inspiration from “Listen To The Sound Of The Rain” (Jose Feliciano). Notice the inspiration in the lyrics too?

Apart from the West, our esteemed music directors often have gone East too for their inspirations .. Tinak Tin Tana from Mann had Sanjeev-Darshan going after “Yang Sedang-Sedang Saja (Iwan – Malaysian)”, note by note again!

Let’s not just blame the newer compsers … as you see some older gems in the list below, you will realize that this “parampara” has existed for eons ….

• Gore Gore O Baanke Chhore (Samadhi, C.Ramchandra) was” Chico Chico from Puerto Rico” (Edmundo Ros)
• Itna Na Mujhse Tu Pyar Badha (Chhaya, Salil Choudhury) was derived from “Mozart’s 40th Symphony”
• Jeevan Ke Safar Mein (Munimji) by S.D. Burman was inspired from The Mexican Hat Dance.
• Even the super-melodious Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Ye (Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayee, Shankar-Jaikishan) has it’s roots in “My Lips Are Sealed” (Jim Reeves)
• Kaun Hai Jo Sapnon Mein Aaya (Jhuk Gaya Aasmaan, Shankar-Jaikishan) was a direct lift from “Margerita” (Elvis Priestley)
• The German-English song ”Ich Liebe Dich I Love You” from Sangam, sung by Goan musician Vivin Lobo was the base for Ravindra Jain’s super-hit Sun Sahiba Sun from Raj Kapoor’s 1985 topper Ram Teri Ganga Maili

Forget about the West or copying from someone else, in some cases our MDs have recycled their own tunes more than once …

• Saagar Kinaare Dil Ye Pukare (Saagar, R.D.Burman) was Hamein Raaston Ki Zaroorat Nahin Hai (Naram Garam) before Dimple & Rishi Kapoor lip-synced to it

• Tum Jo Mile Humko (Gardish, R.D.Burman) was Dhak-Dhak Dharke (Amir Aadmi Garib Aadmi) before Dimple (again!) sang it on screen with Jackie Shroff
• The Tamil/Telugu Anjali Anjali Pushpanjali appeared first as a song in Hindi with the same words in “Tu Hi Mera Dil” and then as the awesome Mil Gayeen Mil Gayeen (Kabhi Na Kabhi, A.R.Rahman)
• Hridaynath Mangeshkar brought his Lata-Ghalib Ghazal Rone Se Aur Ishq Mein back as Suniyo Ji Araj Mhari again by Lata in Lekin

Readers, this is in no way a complete list… not even 5% of the whole list of the “inspired” music. If you can think of any others, please send us a note by clicking on the “Add Comments” link below…

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