Anu Malik

This could be another abominable instance of plagiarism, if the accusation is correct. Upset and outright livid, composer Aadesh Shrivastava accuses director Raj Kanwar, composer Anu Malik and lyricist Sameer of ripping off his composition and using it illegally as the title song in the forthcoming Akshay Kumar-Katrina-Bipasha starrer, Humko Diwana Kar Gaye.

“I couldn’t sleep the whole night when I heard the song. My wife [Vijeyta Pandit] requested me to calm down because my blood pressure shot up. But these are such shameless people! Raj Kanwar, Anu and Sameer haven’t only outraged me by lifting my tune. They’ve also lifted the late and great Anand Bakshi poetry wholesale! How could Sameer who’s so popular and so successful do this to Bakshi Saab? Isn’t there a fear of God in these people?”

Aadesh claims the title song of Humko Diwana Kar Gaye, which is credited to Anu Malik, was actually composed by Aadesh for Vashu Bhagnani’s Deewanapan. “You can check the records. It’s registered on May 30, 2002 with the Film Writers’ Association. I had composed it for Vashuji’s film which Ashu Trikha directed. But Vashuji found it too dreamy and romantic. So I had kept it aside for a big banner. It’s a pahaadi tune. Anand Bakshi Uncle wrote the words, Tum nahin aate to achchha tha/Aake nahin jaate to achchha tha. Sameer is now trying to pass Bakshi Uncle’s words as his own! Where’s his conscience?”

Aadesh Shrivastava

The angry composer claims he had played the tune to Raj Kanwar during one of their music sessions. But Kanwar has a different story to tell. “The only time I’ve been associated with Aadesh is when he did the background music for my film Baadal. How can he talk like this? Why is he saying all these things? Can’t creative minds think alike? If he thinks his song and the one in my film are similar, it’s just a coincidence. There are so many love stories being made. Does it mean all of them are copied from one another? The same applies to love songs.”

But Aadesh who’s currently being praised for his superb score in Kallpana Lajmi’s Chingaari, is adamant. “They can say what they like. They’ve blatantly and brazenly lifted my song. And I intend to take legal action. I still remember how Anand Bakshi Uncle had congratulated me after hearing the tune. He said, ‘Beta, all songs based on raag pahadi are hits. Yours will be a success.’ Now look what they’ve done. What they’ve done to me is bad enough. But what they’ve done to the dead poet is unforgivable.”

This alleged plagiarism isn’t all that Aadesh is unhappy about. “Ever since Himani Kapoor was voted out of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa I’ve lost interest in being a judge on the show. As far as I’m concerned the game is over.”