This is one accusation south film star Mammooty's fans will have nothing of. A song sequence from his forthcoming film, Bhaskar The Rascal, starring Nayantara, has been accused of plagiarism, and, understandably, gone viral in the virtual world.
Ever since the song, I Love You Mummy, was released on YouTube on April 11, accusations have been flying thick and high on how it's picturisation is uncannily similar to a hit Arabic number I Love Your Mamma, starring Bahrain's child actor Hala Al Turk.The Malayalam 'version' has Nayantara being placated by her daughter – much of the song has been shot in the kitchen with many frames looking exactly like the original.
Watch Bhaskar The Rascal song here:
Speaking to the Times of India, the director of the film, Siddique, said, “Yes, the visuals are inspired from the Arabic album I Love You Mamma. However, the songs, its lyrics and music are entirely different; only the theme is the same."He added that the visuals of the album blended well with song sequence. He added, "I happened to watch the Arabic song, I Love You Mamma, and I felt the visuals and the setting can be used in this one as well. In fact, the situations in both the songs are similar. Like in the album, in this song sequence too the daughter is appeasing her mother when she is in distress. I got inspired after watching the video. That's it."
Watch the original Arabic song here:
Speaking to the Times of India, the director of the film, Siddique, said, “Yes, the visuals are inspired from the Arabic album I Love You Mamma. However, the songs, its lyrics and music are entirely different; only the theme is the same."He added that the visuals of the album blended well with song sequence. He added, "I happened to watch the Arabic song, I Love You Mamma, and I felt the visuals and the setting can be used in this one as well. In fact, the situations in both the songs are similar. Like in the album, in this song sequence too the daughter is appeasing her mother when she is in distress. I got inspired after watching the video. That's it."
Watch the original Arabic song here:
The jury is still out there, but the controversy has once again revived memories of previous accusations of plagiarism in our film industry. Remember when the legendary RD Burman was accused of copying Sholay's (1975) Mehbooba Mehbooba from Greek singer and performer Demis Roussos's Say You Love Me (1974). Or, take the song Aate Jaate from '90s smash hit Maine Pyar Kiya. Did someone say it was an unabashed lift from Stevie Wonder’s I Just Called to Say I Love You?