It’s pretty ironic. In a world where remix music albums are a rage and starry-eyed pretty young things don’t mind going dare-bare, seems like directors of the steamy videos that ensure maximum sales are fast running out of ideas.
Consider this: four of the top-of-the-mind recall remix videos in recent times are all copycats (though, who’s copying whom, we don’t know). If Kaanta laga starlet Shefali Jariwala returns two years after her resounding success as the pouty temptress in Kabhi aar kabhi par (from T Series’ Sweet Honey Mix album), there’s Mumbai college girl Deepal Shah doing an encore of the same number remixed for Baby Doll (HMV).
Sultry Negar Khan gets into the black-and-white mould for T-Series’ Chhod do anchal from the Miss Spicy Mix album, while teenager Kaamna Jethmalani plays the coy bimbette in the Chhod do anchal remix in Bombay Vikings’ new album.
Coincidence? It’s happened before. A year ago, Sanobar Kabir (sometime starlet and now aspiring pop singer) wriggled her sexy bottom in Meri beri ke ber for T Series, while Mumbai model Alecia Raut, a Bollywood wannabe, did the same act for Venus (Crazy Berry Mix). Dusky Megha Chatterjee gave fame a shot with Mere naseeb mein (Sony) and even while the music video rocked the charts, weeks later T-Series came out with a Mere naseeb mein video, part of a compilation album.
Shefali claims she was “unaware of the other ... video,” when she shot for the number. “I owe a lot to Harry Anand who remixed and I got to do the video,” she says. “I have been receiving lots of offers for two years, but I chose to wait.” She plays down her sex siren image and, apart from her trademark pout, she’s actually doing little to provoke the moral police this time around: she’s clad in a pair of sequinned trousers and an off-shoulder blouse.
Rather, it’s Deepal, 18, who is raising the room temperature with her little-girl-lost-in-a-disc act in her version of A student of St Xavier’s College, Deepal insists: “The video is cool and there’s no unnecessary skin show.” Shareen Mantri, who directs version featuring Deepal claims she saw “the other ... video only after it was aired on television”.
Well, as long as skin-show acts grab adequate eyeball share, no one’s complaining about the music bit. So what if it’s copycat music. In an industry where originality is a rare commodity and copyright laws flexible, ‘being inspired’ is only fashionable!
Shefali claims she was “unaware of the other ... video,” when she shot for the number. “I owe a lot to Harry Anand who remixed and I got to do the video,” she says. “I have been receiving lots of offers for two years, but I chose to wait.” She plays down her sex siren image and, apart from her trademark pout, she’s actually doing little to provoke the moral police this time around: she’s clad in a pair of sequinned trousers and an off-shoulder blouse.
Rather, it’s Deepal, 18, who is raising the room temperature with her little-girl-lost-in-a-disc act in her version of A student of St Xavier’s College, Deepal insists: “The video is cool and there’s no unnecessary skin show.” Shareen Mantri, who directs version featuring Deepal claims she saw “the other ... video only after it was aired on television”.
Well, as long as skin-show acts grab adequate eyeball share, no one’s complaining about the music bit. So what if it’s copycat music. In an industry where originality is a rare commodity and copyright laws flexible, ‘being inspired’ is only fashionable!