Are remixes of old Bollywood songs in new films ruining the magic?

Remixes may have had their time in the sun and it looks like the latest fad is that of recreated songs. Take for instance, the song Aaj phir tum pe from the film, Hate Story 2.

The upcoming film, Hate Story 2 (Left) features the song Aaj phir tum pe pyar aaya hai, which is originally from the 1988 film, 'Dayavan' (right). The song was earlier sung by Pankaj Udhas and Anuradha Paudwal while Arijit Singh and Samira Koppikar have lent their voice to the new version.

The song, picturised on lead actors Jay Bhanushali and Surveen Chawla, is originally from the film, Dayavan, which starred Madhuri Dixit and Vinod Khanna. This time around, the song has new lyrics, but the new version is yet to receive an encouraging response. In fact, musician Pyarelal, one half of the famous duo, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, that composed music for Dayavan, is far from happy about the new song. In fact, most senior musicians are not in favour of popular songs being reworked upon, as they think that these versions rob composers of the original of their due credit. hitlist digs deeper to tell you what they have to say about this new practice...

Boss, starring Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha, made the most of the Har kisi ko nahi song from the 1981 movie Janbaaz (right), starring Feroz Khan and Sridevi

Reworking can ruin the song
Musician Pyarelal, doesn't approve of the practice. "All these young composers tells us that they respect and love our work, but they end up ruining the song. Some of the singers these days can't even sing properly. Then again, saying this is like banging your head against the wall; it's pointless. Our music is much more varied than our Western counterpart and yet, people in the industry try to imitate the West. The lack of originality is clear," he says.

A remixed version of the hit cabaret number of Hungama Ho Gaya pictured on Bindu (right) for the 1973 film Anhonee was remixed by Amit Trivedi for the Kangna Ranaut-starrer Queen (left)

Bappi Lahiri feels that popular songs shouldn't be reworked. "If a composer wants to do it, then he / she should ideally come up with a version that's better than the original track, but this rarely happens," he says. Lahiri adds that he just wants to tell today's lot of composers they shouldn't ‘ruin' any milestone songs.

Pyarelal Sharma of the Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo

"I don't want to take names but recently, I heard a reworked version of an old popular song and I didn't like it at all. I am fine with remixes, but songs should not be remade if doing so destroys the structure of the original song. However, I liked the reworked version of the song Har kisi ko nahin milta, which was part of Akshay Kumar's film, Boss," he says.

Bappi Lahiri

Doing justice to the original number
Composer Lalit Pandit feels that reworking a hit song won't do justice to the original. "This has become very common now but I believe that one shouldn't do it. If a music director gets official rights to do so and gives proper credit where it is due, then it is fine.

Lalit Pandit of the composer duo Jatin-Lalit

But if you don't give credit and claim that the song has been created by you, then it is just wrong. If someone had to rework my song, I'd be very angry," he says. Lalit says that it also depends on how a song has been reworked. "For instance, the song, Hungama ho gaya, from Queen has been remade well. Similarly, in Humshakals, the song Aaja Aaja is reminiscent of Thade Rahiyo from Pakeezah. My point is that one needs to ensure that the original song's composer hasn't been wronged," he says.

Shaan

Needed: some rules in place
Singer Shaan says that the need of the hour is putting some rules in place. "Producers give a brief to musicians and singers, and we have to sing accordingly. As far as ethics is concerned, it saddens me to say that the music industry has become just like any other business. Nobody here follows any rules; often the permission of the composer/ singer of the original song is not sought. So there is no point in discussing what is right and what is wrong. But if a composer gives credit to the creators of the original song, then there is no harm in remaking it," he points out.