To be in trend, Bollywood filmmakers are recreating old songs and giving them a new touch. Recently director Indra Kumar used Helen’s classic song Mungda from film Inkar (1977) for his upcoming film, Total Dhamaal which didn’t go very well with the original party. Usha, who sang the original version, told Deccan Chronicle in a report, “Our songs were created after a great deal of thought and they were done with sensitivity and care. To rip them off in this arbitrary manner is not correct.”
Her sister and Bharat Ratna recipient Lata Mangeshkar also added in the report, “We are not asked if we approve or not. No one seeks our consent before using our songs. Is that right?” And now Kumar presented his side of the story, and opened up about the controversy, “We don’t have to take their consent. When Neend Churayi Meri was remade (for Golmaal Again; the original belonged to Kumar’s Ishq), no one came to me for approval. The rights belong to the music label, and they (owners of the label) have the right to do what they want to,” he said to Mid-Day.
Mid-Day also quoted Rajesh Roshan saying that filmmakers have lost the confidence to create new songs. To this, Indra Kumar commented that it is the industry’s way to pay homage to such “original hits”. Total Dhamaal is the third installment of the Dhamaal series and is a multi-starrer, featuring Ajay Devgn, Madhuri Dixit, Anil Kapoor, Arshad Warsi, Riteish Deshmukh, Javed Jafferi, Boman Irani, and others. The film is slated to hit the screens on February 22.
