For Bollywood, year 2010 is the year of controversies! Whether it was Rajkumar Hirani’s ‘3 Idiots’ or the Salman Khan starrer ‘Veer,’ all big releases of the year have been surrounded by a fair share of ugly spats and controversies.
This time around, it’s Vishal Bhardwaj’s ‘Ishqiya’ that has been hogging all the limelight, courtesy, a plagiarism row on the noted Bollywood lyricist Gulzar for the song ‘Ibn-e-Batuta.’ Gulzar has been accused of lifting the lyrics from one of the poems of the celebrated Hindi poet Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena, which goes, “Ibn Batuta Pehen Ke Joota, Nikal Pade Toofan Mein ...”
News has it that Saxena’s daughter, Shubha Saxena, has accused the makers of ‘Ishqiya’ of plagiarising the poem and not crediting it to her dad. Talking to a news daily, Shubha said, “Aisa nahin hai ke we are complaining or looking for any benefits out of this. But agar inspire hue hain, toh at least credit de dein. Sammanit toh kijiye. Bas. Woh poem mere dil ke bahut kareeb hai, as it is for lakhs of students who learn it in school. My father had got new shoes for me, and was taking me to the bus stop. Sardi ke din the, it was foggy and windy, and along the way, he began to hum and build the lyrics of this poem. I have never forgotten this particular poem, aur bachpan se hi gaate aa rahe hain.”
However, the filmmakers don’t agree with Shubha. According to the ‘Ishqiya’ director Abhishek Chaoubey, “I do not know anything about this. The song is something that Vishal (Bhardwaj) and Gulzar saab worked together on. I wanted a travelling song in the context of the film. Vishal had already composed a tune, and when Gulzar recited the lyrics in tune, we said we’re going ahead with this. I’ve surely heard about Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena, but didn’t know about the existence of this particular poem,”
When enquired Gulzar, an irked lyricist said, “Where is the similarity? Aap line se line mila ke dekhiye. Kya same hai? Is it the name, Ibn Batutta? If it is, then does the name have a copyright? I have always been deeply interested in history, and I knew that Ibn Batutta was a traveller who travelled with Mohammed Bin Tughlaq when he shifted his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad. Tomorrow, if someone uses the name Marco Polo with reference to anything, will that be an issue? Ibn Batutta travelled on foot, all the way to India from Turkey, and in the film, there are these two runaways. I thought the song fit the situation perfectly. You must publish both the lyrics together and get a public opinion on this. I stand by what I say.”
Nonetheless, Shubha is not ready to step down as she said, “Unhone phir joota hi kyun pehnaya hai Ibn Batutta ko? Sherwani ya kuch aur kyun nahin pehnaya?”
To which Gulzar responded with, “Agar naam nahin churaya, toh kya ab maine joota churaya hai? Arre, maine toh woh bhi nahin kiya hai. Sirf bagal mein rakh ke dauda hoon!”
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