Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 21, 2014)

Bollywood’s twisted interpretation of ‘inspiration’ versus plagiarism continues to be a mystery. That is exactly the case with the recent track from Main Tera Hero - Palat. 

The song composed by Sajid-Wajid and sung by Arijit Singh apparently bears an uncanny similarity with the Kishore Kumar-R D Burman chartbuster from Kalia featuring Amitabh Bachchan - Jahan Teri Ye Nazar Hai.

 When we called up Wajid of the composer duo to ask whether the song’s tune has been indeed “inspired” by the famous Kalia track, he retorted: “It was not a conscious attempt, but I’ve been a huge fan of RD Burman. As a kid, I used to accompany my father to his concerts. And I won’t deny his influence in our work, but I’m not sure to what extent it goes,” he said.

 When prodded further, he added, “The lyrics and the vibe of the song are similar. Some people have called us to say that. But the tune is different. The roots of all contemporary music can be traced to a composition of yesteryear. You cannot help when subconsciously somebody else’s work creeps into your own.”

 According to Wajid, a musician has his limitations as he has just seven notes to play with: “There are only saat surs in music. There’s only so much hera pheri that you can do to make a song sound refreshingly different,” he pointed out.