Apart from the saffron bikini row controversy, the first Pathaan song Besharam Rang was accused of plagiarism too. In December last week, the famous Pakistani singer Sajjad Ali shared a video in which he said, without taking any names, that a recent song reminded him of his own song Ab Ke Hum Bichare which he released 26 years ago.
In the clip, he sang his track and the netizens pointed out that Ali's song sounds eerily similar to Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone's chartbuster track song Besharam Rang. However, on Tuesday, January 3, Sajjad shared another video on his social media handles in which he clarified that he never said that a recent song was copied from his composition.
"After listening to the song people started to say that Sajjad Ali is saying that ‘my song has been replicated’. First thing, when did I say this? Go back and watch that video of mine, what did I say in that? I never named any singer, song, director, or actor", the singer said in his latest video.
He added that a newly released song had only reminded him of his own song because of the same raga used in both tracks as he stated, "Why did I remember it? It’s because 80 percent of the songs made in Raga bhairavi sound very similar. I have also made songs in Raga bhairavi and I got the feel of my own song, only from the first line, because it sounded similar to one of mine. People thought of it as a copy and to clear it up, I never said such a thing. I never make such statements because it makes no difference. Just to be clear, the song is not a copy of my own, and neither did I ever say it was."
The singer also lashed at those who said that he made the first video for his 15 minutes of fame as he said, "In the 90s and 2000s when my songs were completely lifted, I didn’t point it out then, I won’t do it today and probably won’t in the near future. I don’t need fame of this kind. I have fans around the world, I'm never part of the controversy and neither do I say such stuff because I mind my own business."
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Sajjad even addressed those who had said that he had lifted his song from Mehdi Hasan’s ghazal. "It’s not Mehdi Hasan sahab’s ghazal, it’s by Ahmad Faraz Sahab. It’s Mehdi Hasan sahab’s dhun [tune]. One ghazal is sung by artists in 100 different tunes and you don’t call that ‘copying’", he said.
Concluding his video, the Pakistani singer said that people these days do not have proper knowledge of music and hence they are making such random accusations. "The things you don’t have knowledge about, refrain from discussing it casually. Take it, easy guys. It’s music so enjoy it and there’s no need to fight about it", Ali said ending his video.
READ | 'More pressing issues than colour of costumes...': Besharam Rang singer Caralisa Monteiro reacts to saffron bikini row
