Mohit Chauhan on Masakali 2.0: It reeks of greed

Singer Mohit Chauhan, who had sung the original song, Masakali in the film Delhi-6, says he is upset over the recreation and is miffed with the music label accusing them of not seeking permission from the song’s original composer, A.R. Rahman.

Singer-songwriter Mohit Chauhan has echoed the same sentiment as composer AR Rahman, lyricist Prasoon Joshi and filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, who have criticised the recently-released song Masakali 2.0, which is the recreated version of the song Masakali from the 2009 film, Delhi-6. “ When any musician is creating an original, there’s a whole lot of hard work, heart and soul into it. But once it becomes a big hit, a few people, piggyback on it and ruin the entire feel of the song. That’s not right,” he says.

Singer Mohit Chauhan is upset with the recreated version of Masakali. (Photo: Waseem Gashroo/HT Photo)

Chauhan, who had sung the original song, which was composed by Rahman in the Abhishek Bachchan-Sonam Kapoor Ahuja starrer, directed by Mehra, agrees with Rahman, who had, in his tweet, urged people to listen to the original.

“Rahman saab does not talk often. So one can imagine how hurt he is that he had to talk about it. And this is not the first time he is unhappy with a remake (of a song, which was originally created by him),” says Chauhan, who feels that he is “third in line” to be upset about the remake, after “ Rahman sir, who created the music and Prasoon, who wrote the lyrics, which gives the song its meaning.”

According to Chauhan, he too has been ignored by several musicians, who covered his rendition of the song Mai ni Meriye from his 2009 album Fitoor, which originally is a folk song. “I know it’s a folk song, so I know, I don’t own the rights. But it was me, who brought it to the mainstream, and was the first one to adapt it. Since then, there have been so many musicians, who have copied what I have done, and not a single one of them, even spoke with me,” he says.

However, while Chauhan is happy that the recreated version is being panned by the listeners as well, he hopes that music industry takes a firm stand. “I am not in favour of ruining beautiful, iconic songs, and that too, too often. I can understand if one recreates it for a film, where it justifies the situation or something like that. This was only a single. This was not right. The time for polite dismissal is over. I think, it’s time now for the industry to take a stand against this rampant trend, which harms creativity and originality,” he says.

“This reeks of greed. I understand that movies and music are made to make money, but they exist in the first place because of the creative process right? If there’s no creativity then how will you get songs of Roja or Rockstar, or numbers like Tum Se Hi or Dooba Dooba? The creative process needs to be respected” he signs off.