| 1 | | Devi koondhalo [Film: En Aasai Unnoduthaan (1983)] <TC> | | Composer: Shankar Ganesh | | Copied exactly from the song 'So happy together' by The Turtles! | | Listen to Devi koondhalo | So happy together | | Whoa, whatta copy! | |
| 2 | | En manadhu ondru thaan [Film: Avan oru sarithiram] <TC> | | Composer: MS Viswanathan | | Inspired by Beethoven's Fur Elise! | | Yes, inspired! | |
| 3 | | Anubavam pudhumai [Film: Kaadhalikka Neramillai] <TC> | | Composer: MS Viswanathan | | Inspired by the Italian song Besame Mucho! | | Yes, inspired! But very well Indianised by MSV! | |
| 4 | | Paartha nyabagam illayo [Film: Pudhiya Paravai] <TC> | | Composer: MS Viswanathan | | Inspired by the song 'Sway with me'! Looking for more details. Posted here is sung by Dean Martin. | | Listen to Paartha nyabagam | Sway with me | | Inspired! | |
| 5 | | Meghamai vanthu pogiren [Film: Thullatha manamum thullum] <TC> | | Composer: SA Rajkumar | | Ditto replica of the song Pakistani band Junoon's song 'Sayonee' |
| | Exact copy! Also lifted by Deva in 'Kannedhire Thondrinaal' for the song 'Salomiya' | |
| 6 | | Welcome girls welcome boys [Film: Priyamanavale] <TC> | | Composer: SA Rajkumar | | Copied exctaly from Mr President's dance hit 'Coco jumbo'! |
| | One more insipid copy! | |
| 7 | | Hey shabba [Film: Karna] <TC> | | Composer: Vidyasagar | | Ditto from Khaled's number 'Aye chebba' | | Listen to Hey shabba | aye chebba | | Exact replica, but Vidyasagar has included some good rhythm to the number in tamil! | |
| 8 | | Kalyana samayal saadham/ Vivaha bhojanammu [Film: Mayabazar] <TC> | | Composer: Ghantasala | | Partly inspired by the famous 'Laughing Samba'. | | Listen to Kalyana samayal | Vivaha bhojammu | Laughing samba | | Interesting inspiration, though! | |
| 9 | | Minnalai pidithu [Film: Shahjahan] <TC> | | Composer: Manisharma | | Inspired from the theme music of the movie 'The ghost and the darkness' by composer Jerry Goldsmith. | | Listen to Minnalai pidithu | The ghost and the darkness theme | | Good Indianization by Manisharma! | |
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14 | | Film: Ullathai Alli Tha | | The Tamil film Ullathai Allitha with music by Sirpy was a landmark film in a sense. Its one of those rare films (not sure if we got other movies like this!) where every song was copied/ lifted. It wasn't even a remake of another movie that the composer can give an excuse that the original's songs fitted well in the remake (it was indeed the remake of Raj Kumar Santoshi's Andaz apna apna in a way but the second lead of Salman in the Hindi went to a sidekick comedian like Goundamani!). The songs are inspired from various sources such as Bally Sagoo, Egyptian singer Hisham Abbas et all! Here goes the list which also includes the same original lifted in Hindi too! | 01. Azhagiya laila - Copied from Hisham Abbas' Ahla ma feki
- Also lifted by Jatin Lalit in Yes Boss as Suniye to
02. Chittu chittu kuruvikku - Copied from the Pakistani/ Punjabi number Mera Laung Gawacha (popularized by Bally Sagoo). Also lifted by Hindi composers in assorted movies.
03. Mama nee mama - Copied from Nusrat fateh Ali Khan's 'Kinna sona'.
- Also lifted by Nadeem Shravan in Raja Hindustani as 'Kitna pyara tujhe'. Has also been heard in a lesser known movie 'Aise bhi kya jaldi hai'.
04. Adi anarkali - Copied from Mungo Jerry's In the summertime, popularized by Shaggy recently.
- Also lifted by Rajesh Roshan in Tarazu as Haseena gori gori
05. I love you sonnaley - Copied from Hisham Abbas' 'Wana wana'. |
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| 15 | | Megamey megamey [Film: Paalaivana Cholai] <TC> | | Composer: Shankar Ganesh | | Lifted from the Jagjit Singh ghazal, 'Tum nahi gham nahi sharab nahi'. | | Listen to Megamey megamey | Tum nahin gham nahi | | The lift is pretty much same with no major changes, but Vani Jeyaram's singing elevates this Tamil ghazal to new heights. In fact Vani Jeyaram fondly remembers this ghazal every time she talks about her career in Tamil playback singing. | |
| 16 | | Adhe Kangal <TC> | | Composer: Veda | | One of Veda's most popular films, 'Adhe Kangal' had 2 prominent lifted songs. I had earlier posted a few Hindi versions of the 1964 Walt Disney classic 'Chim chim cher-ee' from the movie Mary Poppins. A Tamil version can be found in Adhe Kangal too (the song 'boom boom boom maattukkaran'), but a fairly good improvisation at that. Another lift from this movie was the song 'Oh oh ethanai azhagu' which was a direct lift from the Venturers hit, 'Pedal Pushers'. | Listen to Boom boom maattukkaran | Chim chim cher-ee
Listen to Oh oh ethanai azhagu | Pedal pushers | |
| 17 | | Maddy maddy and theme from Minnale [Film: Minnale] <TC> | | Composer: Harris Jeyaraj | | Harris Jeyaraj's debut film Minnale (Tamil, 2001) had a predominant theme playing in the background, 'Maddy maddy'. This was also converted into a song later and added to the subsequent audio releases. This song along with the background music that plays in the music seems highly inspired by Joan Jett's 1982 hit 'I love rock and roll'. I traced a copy of the 'Maddy' song from the net but couldn't get the background music that plays in the movie. That background piece is a much more direct lift of Joan Jett's number! Please don't compare the following two numbers....the maddy number is just a version of the bgm. If someone's got the bgm I'm talking about, please do mail me! | | Listen to Maddy maddy | I love rock and roll | |
| 18 | | Kadhalagi kadhalagi [Film: King (2002)] <TC> | | Composer: Dhina | | Lift from Sting's song 'A thousand years' from his 1999 album 'Brand new day'! | | Listen to Kadhalagi kadhalagi | A thousand years | | Blatant! | |
| 19 | | Thathithom [Film: Azhagan (1991)] | | Composer: Maragadhamani | | The last portion of the song where it turns to a western tune is lifted from Michael Jackson's Liberian Girl. | | Listen to Thathithom (towards the end) | Liberian Girl | Thathithom (beginning) | | Wonder what made Maragadhamani to resort to this! The tamil song was based on raag Dharmavathy. And I've added the opening segment of the song just to make sure people identify which song I'm talking about! | |
| 20 | | Pennoruthi [Film: Gemini (2002)] | | Composer: Bharadwaj | | Partly inspired by Shaggy's 'Why me lord' from the album Hot Shot (2000). | | Listen to Pennoruthi pennoruthi | Why me lord? | | Moreso the portions 'Brahma o brahma....'!! | |
| 21 | | Thiru Thiruda [Film: Five Star (2002)] | | Composer: Parasuram Radha | | Heavily inspired by Aaliyah's 'We need a resolution'. | | Listen to Thiru Thiruda | We need a resolution | | For a pair of debutant composers, this sure is a black spot...moreso after statements like "It's time Chennai shakes itself out of the Rahmans" [India Today - September 2002]. | |
| 22 | | Kannukulle unnai vaithen [Film: Pennin Manadhai Thottu (2001)] <TC> | | Composer: S A Rajkumar | | Looks like a direct rip-off from the old Hindi song, 'Ruk jaa o jaanewaali ruk jaana'!! | | Listen to Kannukulle | Ruk jaa | | Just reduced the tempo! | |
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24 | | Parthiban Kanavu (2003) | | Composer: Vidyasagar | Prelude in the song 'Theeradha' lifted from the Native American chant 'Ly-O-Lay Ale Loya'
Prelude in the song 'Enna Seyya' lifted off the track from the string quartet Bond's song, 'Fuego'. | Listen to Theeraadha | Ly-O-Lay Ale Loya
Listen to Enna Seyya | Fuego | | The lifts in Parthiban Kanavu are not tune-lifts but mere preludes, but the reason why I'm adding them here is 'cos they have been lifted as-is, with no improvisation whatsoever. The song, 'Theeraadha' has a prelude chant that has been lifted straight off a Native American chant called 'Ly-O-Lay Ale Loya' (also called as the Counterclockwise Circle Dance!!) which has been adapted by quite a groups, including the Hungarian band Djabe (this version sounds pretty good - mp3 available in the website!) and also has a remix by the Utah Saints. It has also been featured in the soundtrack of a movie by name 'Wolves' and has been a prominent feature in a world music compilation album called 'Sacred Spirits' - from which Vidayasagar must have lifted it ditto! The second lift is in the much talked about song 'Enna seyya', which is the modern version of the 50s styled Tamil song 'Buck buck'. Again, the prelude has a string section that has been lifted from the String Quartet Bond's track 'Fuego' from their second album 'Shine' (2002). | |
| 25 | | Ayya Sami [Film: Or Iravu (1951)] <TC> | | Composer: Sudarsanam | | Lifted from Edmundo Ros's 1945 track, 'Chico chico' | | Listen to Ayya Sami | Chico Chico | | Also lifted by C Ramachandra in the film Samadhi (1950) for the song 'Gore gore'. See Hindi - Others, item 10. | |
| 26 | | Muthama Ennai [Film: Sigaram (1991)] <TC> | | Composer: S.P. Balasubramaniam | | Lifted from The Turtles' classic, 'Happy Together' | | Listen to Muthama Ennai | Happy Together | | Also lifted by Shankar Ganesh - Check out the first listing in this page! | |
| 27 | | Baba baba ali baba [Film: Pudhayal (1997)] <TC> | | Composer: Vidyasagar | | Lifted from Deep Forest's 'Bohemian Ballet' from their 1995 album 'Boheme'. | | Listen to Baba baba | Bohemian Ballet | | Silly lift! | |
| 28 | | Ulagam Engum Ore Mozhi [Film: Nadodi (1966)] | | Composer: M S Viswanathan | | Inspired by the American folk song, 'Tom Dooley', made famous by The Kingston Trio, in 1958. | | Listen to Ulagam engum | Tom Dooley | | Like any other Indian inspiration M S Viswanathan has used the Pallavi (opening) but uses his own imagination further into the track. | Trivia Notes: Besides the fact that it sounds a lot like Boney M's chartbuster, 'By the rivers of Babylon' (1978) and somewhat like Biddu and Carl Douglas' 'Kung-fu Fighting' (1974), the original Tom Dooley track has a long history! 'Tom Dooley' is actually an old country ballad about a century-old murder in a small, rural county in the US. And the name is actually 'Tom Dula'. Its started with Frank Noah Profitt of Mountain Dale, at the foot of Stone Mountain in Watauga County, where he learned how to make banjos and dulcimers from his father. Frank's grandmother, Adeline Perdue, who lived in Wilkes County during the Tom Dula trial, taught Frank the song, "Tom Dula." According to family legend, she saw Tom riding in a coffin, and as he strolled down the street to his hanging, he sang a song--the same song she taught her grandchildren. One day in 1937 a man from New York named Frank Warner visited them to buy a dulcimer. Warner was particularly interested in learning Appalachian folk songs, and Frank sang 'Tom Dula' among other songs sung by his Father-in-law. Warner used one of the first battery operated recorders to capture the songs Frank sang for them.
Surprised at the interest generated by the folk songs he had grown up with, Frank Proffitt decided to try to collect as many songs as he could. He sent a book of songs to Warner, who modified several of them and performed them himself. Shortly after that, in 1947, Warner shared "Tom Dula" with Alan Lomax, a professor at New York University, who published it in his collection titled "Folk Songs USA". In 1958, the Kingston Trio heard the song almost by accident, adapted it, and added it to their stage act. They renamed the song "Tom Dooley" and recorded it for their album that year. Frank Proffitt heard the Kingston Trio perform the song on the Ed Sullivan show and was completely surprised. Eventually Proffitt and Warner filed a joint lawsuit for legal claim to "Tom Dooley". Three years later, they began receiving royalties. Courtesy: http://www.unctv.org/folkways/TomDula/thesong/ | |
| 29 | | Malligaipoo Jadhi Roja [Film: Raji En Kanmani (1954)] <TC> | | Composer: Not very sure! | | Lifted from Jose Padilla's 1923 composition, 'La Violetera' | | Listen to Malligaipoo Jadhi Roja | La Violetera (Stanley Black's version) | | Like any other Indian inspiration M S Viswanathan has used the Pallavi (opening) but uses his own imagination further into the track. It's quite easy to guess how this song made it into the Tamil movie - 'Raji en kanmani' was a remake of Chaplin's 'City Lights' and City Lights uses 'La Violetera' in one of the scenes! Though Chaplin had composed the other tracks in the movie (quite a few people think that Chaplin composed 'La Violetera' too!), he chose to use this Jose Padilla track as the theme for the blind flower seller girl character played by Virginia Cherril. I'm still not very sure who's credited as the composer of 'Raji en kanmani' - a few websites say it is T Sudarsanam, others say it is Parthasarathy, while another site says it is Hanumantha Rao. The interesting thing is that another site says that in those days Gemini Films used to work as one single entity and did not credit individuals - so the story was credited to 'Gemini Story Group' and Music to 'Gemini Music Group' and so on. | |
| 30 | | Andangaakka [Film: Anniyan (2005)] <TC> | | Composer: Harris Jeyaraj | | Partly inspired from 1956 track 'Chinnanchiru chitte' from the MGR-Bhanumathi starrer 'Alibaba & 40 thieves'. | | Listen to Anadangaakka | Chinnanchiru chitte | | Harris, being a the smartie he is, has used the original merely as an inspiration and has created his own unique tune around it! | |
| 31 | | En Aattamellaam [Film: Alibaba & 40 thieves (1956)] <TC> | | Composer: Dakshinamoorthy S | | Inspired by a Middle Eastern track, 'Ya Habeebi Taala' by legendary singer Asmahan. | | Listen to En Aattamellaam | Ya Habeebi Taala | | The similarity in the first couple of lines is obvious, while there seems to be a conscious attempt on the part of the composer to deviate from the original and make it sound different! | |
| 32 | | Athinthom [Film: Chandramukhi (2005)] <TC> | | Composer: Vidyasagar | | Seems to have been lifted directly from a traditional Malayalam track of the same name! | | Listen to Athinthom (Chandramukhi) | Athinthom (Original) | | Supposed to be an old folk song from Kerala made popular by many local bands, including one called 'Karinthalakkootam'! | |
| 33 | | Stranger in Black theme [Film: Anniyan (2005)] <TC> | | Composer: Harris Jeyaraj | | Inspired by John Debney's 'Resurrection' from the OST of The Passion of the Christ (2004) | | Listen to Stranger in Black theme | Resurrection | | Even though Harris has used enough elements to make his theme unique the similarities are glaring! | |
| 34 | | Oru Kodi [Film: Kizhakku Kadarkarai Saalai (2006)] <TC> | | Composer: Paul J | | Inspired by a Sri Lankan/ Sinhalese track titled, 'Ran kurahan mala' by Bhathiya & Sunthush (album, 'Tharunyaye', released in 2002). | | Listen to Oru kodi | Ran kurahan mala | Why would a debutant composer lift blatantly? I'm not sure, since I don't know much about this guy, Paul J! Does he have any Sri Lankan connection?
Update on the above: Paul J is Paul Jacob of 'Bodhi Records' fame and was the third person along with Suresh Peters and A R Rahman to start the band 'Nemesis Avenue'. He is actively involved in many world music projects including one (or a couple more) in Sri Lanka. Is it just possible that he has reused his own Sinhalese tune for KKS? | |
| 35 | | Orey murai [Film: E (2006)] <TC> | | Composer: Srikanth Deva | | Blatant rip-off of the 1956 track 'Chinnanchiru chitte' from the MGR-Bhanumathi starrer 'Alibaba & 40 thieves' | | Listen to Orey murai | Chinnanchiru chitte | | The lift is quite evident, despite the composer taking us for a ride with a Hindi opening/ prelude for his song! | |
| 36 | | Sorgam enbadhu namakku [Film: Nammavar (1995)] <TC> | | Composer: Mahesh | | Inspired by a rock 'n roll track, 'Little bitty pretty one', composed by Bobby Day and made popular by numerous covers, the most notable one being Thurston Harris in 1957. | | Listen to Sorgam enbadhu | Little bitty pretty one | | Bit sad considering we're talking of a composer who died of cancer! | |
| 37 | | Mai vizhi [Film: Kondaattam (1998)] <TC> | | Composer: Maragadhamani | | Lifted from The Ventures' 'Escape'. | | Listen to Mai vizhi | Escape - The Ventures | | Also used by Nadeem Shravan for the song 'Dil jigar nazar' in Dil ka kya kasoor. Check out the Nadeem Shravan page, listing no. 37! | |
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| | Unnale Unnale - 2007 <TC> | | Composer: Harris Jeyaraj | Ilalai Ullasam's prominent, repetitive hook towards the end is inspired by 'Here comes the hotstepper', last covered by Ini Kamoze.
June pona seems to be a very clever take off from Blue's All Rise. | Ilamai Ullasam | Here comes the hotstepper
June pona | All rise | 'Ilamai Ullasam' uses its most prominent hook ('na na na na na'!!) from Ini Kamoze's 1994 chartbuster 'Here comes the hotstepper' and the very successful, 'June pona' is almost heartbreakingly similar to boy band Blue's 2001 debut, 'All rise'! While the former is fairly direct - same pattern, tweaked pitch, the latter makes for a neat case study in inspiration - similar organ prelude, the 'netru enbadhum' chorus appearing in almost the exact same spot as the original, plus the vocalizing effects in the background, its all there in the Tamil version!
If you're wondering the mention of Wilson Pickett's 'Land of a 1000 dances' in my Unnale Unnale music review, in connection with 'Ilamai Ullasam' - its because, Ini Kamoze's is perhaps the last known version. The original is called, 'Land of a 1000 dances' and was first recorded by soul singer Chris Kenner in 1962 - and this did not have this hook. The hook was added in its 1965 cover version by Cannibal & the headhunters, but a better known version is the 1966 cover by another soul singer Wilson Pickett. Listen to all the versions (one above and 2 below) to see the evolution of his catchy hook. I distinctly remember Ini Kamoze's version as part of the soundtrack of Robert Altman's 1994 fashion industry satire film, 'Prêt-à-Porter'.
Land of a 1000 dances, by Cannibal & the headhunters | Wilson Pickett | |
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| | Karu karu vizhigalal [Film: Pachaikili Muthucharam (2006)] <TC> | | Composer: Harris Jeyaraj | | Bears uncanny similarity to the structure of Westlife's 2005 hit, 'Hit you with the real thing' from the album Face to face. | | Karu karu vizhiglal | Hit you with the real thing | | The opening 4 lines make way for a similar sound thereafter - but all with an entirely different tune! | |
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| | Aiyo aiyaiyo [Film: M Kumaran Son of Mahalakshmi (2004)] <TC> | | Composer: Srikanth Deva | | Interesting rehash of the Malaysian song, 'Hati Kama' by composer Pak Ngah. | | | And to think, this was one of the most visible songs from the film, getting a lot of telly-play, along with the 'Mahaganapathim' remake, 'Chennai Senthamizh'! In fact, this catchy song has been quite adequately modified by the composer who had added his own opening (mukhda) over the original!
Trivia on Hati Kama: Suhaimi Mohd. Zain, better known as Pak Ngah, is the composer of the 1999 song 'Hati kama'. He is a well-known and prolific songwriter in traditional Malay music and has an almost complete monopoly in the Irama Malaysia music genre. This particular song was the winner of the 1999 Juara Lagu music event in Malaysia and was sung by Siti Nurhaliza and Noraniza Idris. | |
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| | Minnalgal koothaadum [Film: Polladhavan (2007)] | | Composer: GV Prakash Kumar | | Seems to have borrowed a line or two from Akon's 'Smack that'. | | | | The 2006 chartbuster by Akon is so popular everywhere that its rather strange that GV even thought of using it - or did it creep in subconsciously? GV dude, you listen to Akon too? | |
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| | Yaar seidha maayam [Film: Luckyman (1995)] <TC> | | Composer: Adityan | | Mind-numbing lift from Billy Joel's 'She's always a woman' | | | | The song is a unabashed replica of Billy Joel's 1977 classic, 'She's always a woman'. Note how blatant the lift is by comparing the part where Billy goes, "Oh, she takes care of herself" with its Tamil equivalent and everything after that! Funny huh? | |
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| | Unakena naan [Film: Kaadhalil Vizhundhen (2007)] <TC> | | Composer: PV Prasath (Vijay Antony is the composer of the soundtrack, but not this particular song) | | Direct and unabashed lift from Rihanna's 'Unfaithful' from her 2006 album, 'A girl like me' | | Unakena naan | Unfaithful | | The rip is shocking to say the least - almost as if Prasath got Rihanna's vocals removed and added a Tamil layer to it. Prasath happens to be the film's director too! | |
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| | Naana yaar idhu [Film: Ninaithu ninaithu paarthen (2007)] <TC> | | Composer: Joshua Sridhar | | Inspired by Nitin Sawhney's 'Nadia' (rivers) | | | | One of last year's most under-rated film scores in Tamil was composer Joshua Sridhar's Ninaithu ninaithu paarthen (Milliblog music review). The film had relative newcomers in the lead and Madhu Ambat's cinematography. There were a couple of pretty interesting songs in the soundtrack, most notably the mod patriotic number 'Indhiya idhu' sung by the composer himself. But another song from the film, 'Naana yaar idhu' seems to have been unduly influenced by Asian Underground star Nitin Sawhney - specifically the song 'Nadia' (rivers) from his 1999 Mercury Music Prize nominated album, 'Beyond Skin'. Nitin did not win the award, but this album was critically acclaimed and was noted for its diverse genres. Nadia had some amazing semi-classical vocals by Swati Natekar amidst mild drum and bass, typical of Asian Underground. Joshua's adaptation retains a large part of the original's flavour and tune while adding considerable electronic sounds so common these days in Tamil film music. Interesting influence, this! | |
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| | Sooriyane [Film: Vellithirai (2008)] <TC> | | Composer: GV Prakash Kumar | | Blatantly lifted off Keith Urban's 'Somebody like you'. | | | | Its a bloody direct and ruthless lift. The fact that it is by an upcoming, talented and young composer really hurts since there's really no need at his stage in career to resort to such blatant plagiarism. | |
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| | Palinginaal oru maaligai [Film: Vallavan Oruvan (1966)] <TC> | | Composer: Veda | | The song is a unabashed lift of the jazz standard, Frenesi. Frenesi was first composed by Alberto Dominguez and was later adapted as a jazz standard. | | | | The original has been performed and recorded | |
