What should I say when people say ARR lifted songs? Harris Jeyaraj is often accused as no1 copy cat. He actually uses BGMs of other songs into his but the tune of the song remains original. His latest song Mundhinam from Vaaranam Aayiram used the same guitar BGM from George Michael's Faith. And there MANY more such examples. The point is ARR did the EXACTLY the same thing with a couple of songs. If Harris is a copy cat because of these, then ARR will be the same too. That is not what we want
A R Rahman [Tamil]
1
Hello Mr. ethirkatchi [Film: Iruvar]
The opening piano part definitely inspired. Source: Dave Grusin's
Memphis Stomp, from the OST of The Firm, released in 1993.
Listen to Hello Mr. Ethirkatchi |
Memphis
Stomp
Genuine copy wrt the piano intro
sequence. But the actual tune of the song remains original.
2
Kuluvalile [Film:
Muthu]
The background rythm and beats inspired from the song 'rescue me' by
Fontella Bass. The song was part of the OST of the film 'Sister Act',
released in 1965.
Listen to Kuluvalile | Rescue me
The rythm has been used. However, the tune of the song
remains original.
3
Akkadannu naanga [Film:
Indian]
Again, the background beats are inspired. Source: Paul Young's 'Love of
common people', from the album 'No Parlez', released in 1983.
Listen to Akkadannu | Love
of common people
Oh sure, the beats are copied. Tune original!
4
Anbae anbae [Film:
Jeans]
The opening
sequence seems inspired from Peter
Gabriel's 'Of these, hope...' from the album 'Passion: Music from the
last temptation of Christ'.
Listen to anbae anbae | Of
these, hope
Is A R Rahman a fan of
Peter Gabriel? Tune is original!
5
Shakalaka Baby [Film:
Mudhalvan]
The rhythm loop
with an underground feel is also found in the track 'Flight IC 408' by
State of Bengal and the track 'Aint talkin bout dub' by Apollo 440.
Listen to Shakalaka Baby |
Flight
IC 408 | Aint
talkin bout dub
Possibly a commercially available loop, done with some improvisations by
Rahman. The loop appears almost throughout the Apollo 440
track and at
places in Flight IC 408. Actual song's tune original.
6
Thillana thillana [Film:
Muthu]
The opening African female humming is ripped off from Deep
Forests
'Night Bird'.
Listen to Thillana thillana |
Night
bird
Oh sure, ripped. Just that initial
humming part. But if Deep Forest can
rip off native African sounds....!
7
Poopookkum
osai [Film: Minsara Kanavu]
The beats seem inspired from Lebo M's 'Rhythm of pride lands:
Kube',
which was last part of the Disney's Greatest Pop hits collection.
Listen to Poopookkum osai |
Rhythm
of pride lands: Kube
The beats are sure inspired. As usual
the
tune remains very original.
8
Thenmerku
paruvakkaatru [Film: Karuthamma]
The beats are similar to a track by Dr Alban,
'Om we rembwe ike'. Note
that Dr Alban himself uses a lot of commercially available loops and CDs
to create songs!
Listen to
Thenmerku paruvakaatru |
Om we rembwe ike
The beats are sure inspired. As usual
the
tune remains very original. The 'yei nee romba azhaga irukke' song,
'Poi sollalaam'
uses similar beats!
9
Paarkadhey [Film:
Gentleman
(1993)]
Alleged to be inspired from the Osibisa number
'Kelele'
Listen to
Paarkadhey
| Kelele
You decide!
10
Ekamevadhvitheeyam
- Theme music from Baba [Film: Baba]
Inspired from the the
background music of The Untouchables (1987).
Listen to
Ekamevadhvitheeyam |
Al Capone
(The Untouchables)
'Ekamevadhvitheeyam'
means "there is only one paramatma, no second entity".
This song opens almost exactly like the prominent score from the cult
classic 'The Untouchables' with music by Ennio Morricone. Why Rahman
chose to lift this so blatantly really beats me, even if figures in
Baba for a few fleeting seconds! In the soundtrack of The Untouchables,
this tune plays almost throughout the movie, more so for the
softer/sadder moments! I'm adding the track called 'Al Capone' which
probably brings out the copy best, in my opinion! Tip: Play the Baba number in
full volume, the opening plays in
very low volume!
11
Ottagatha Kattikko
[Film: Gentleman (1993)]
Highly inspired
by Raj Koti's Telugu pop song 'Eddem
ante' sung by Malgadi
Shuba, in 1991.
Listen to
Ottagatha
Kattikko |
Eddem ante
Malgadi
Shuba's 1991 Telugu pop song, 'Eddem
Ante Teddam Antav',
from the album 'Chik pak chik bam',
with music by Raj Koti,
seems to be the source of inspiration
for Rahman's superhit
Gentleman song, 'Ottakatha Kattikko'.
The first 2 lines'
flow, that is, nothing more. And,
considerably spruced up in
Rahman style, of course! I recall
reading Rahman's
apprenticeship as an arranger for other
composers like
Ilayaraja, Ousepachan and Raj Koti, so
a connection cannot
be ruled out as a coincidence. Plus,
I'm not getting into a
guessing game which points to Rahman
composing this tune
originally for Raj Koti since that's
merely a conjecture!
There's another long-standing
allegation that the Gentleman
track was in fact inspired by a much
older Malayalam song, 'Kuyiline
thedi' from the 1954 film,
'Neelakkuyil', with music by
Raghavan K. I personally do not find
that direct a
connection between this one and
Ottagatha Kattikko. Plus,
the Raj Koti apprenticeship angle
perhaps gives more weight
to the Telugu pop song connection. My
opinion?
Far-fetched. No similarity strong
enough to warrant a post
here. But, I'd let you decide!
Listen to
Kuyiline thedi
http://www.itwofs.com/tamil-arr.html
How should I explain to anyone who points out this songs? Are they legally
done? Would like to hear some good explanation. I BELIEVE THIS IS DONE LEGALLY
BUT WOULD LIKE SOME OFFICIAL CONFIRMATION FROM SENIORS AND KNOWLEDGABLE PEOPLE
FROM THIS GROUP.
PLEASE DON'T STRAIGHT AWAY START SAYING THINGS AT ME AS I TOO LOVE ARR AND HIS
MUSIC AS MUCH AS ANYONE ELSE HERE DO. I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE ARR CAN'T BE
ACCUSED OF PLAGIARISM.
