It's sane advice not to mess with perfection, but that's not something remix gurus in the country seem to understand. Yet another time, sacrilege has been committed and a beautiful AR Rahman song that his fans adore has been remixed. Did we need more bad news than what is already there? Did we?
But AR Rahman, known for his cryptic punches on social media, isn't taking it lying down.
The music maestro took to social media on Wednesday to join the collective outrage over the remix of his song ‘Masakali’ from the 2009 Bollywood movie Delhi 6. Indian music label T-series on Wednesday released the remake that nobody had asked for, titled ‘Masakali 2.0,’ which features actors Sidharth Malhotra and Tara Sutaria. The new song has been re-created by Tanishk Bagchi and has been sung by Tulsi Kumar and Sachet Tandon.
The hit track 'Masakali' from Delhi 6 was originally composed by AR Rahman, sung by Mohit Chauhan and lyrics were penned by Prasoon Joshi.
From the moment the teaser of 'Masakali 2.0' was released on Tuesday, followed by the video song's release a day later, fans have taken to social media to condemn the new version, calling it an ‘unnecessary’ adaptation that has ‘ruined’ the original.
While the original song was picturised with Sonam Kapoor, a pigeon atop her head and Abhishek Bachchan, the new version shows Sidharth and Tara as a couple who get drenched in rain and sneak into a hotel suite to have fun, and are later caught by the original residents.
Hours after the video song was released, AR Rahman shared his original song on social media, with the note: "No short cuts, properly commissioned, sleepless nights, writes and re-writes. Over 200 musicians, 365 days of creative brainstorming with the aim to produce music that can last generations. A team of a Director, a Composer and a Lyricist supported by actors, dance directors and a relentless film crew. Lots of love and prayers, A.R. Rahman (sic).”
Enjoy the original #Masakali https://t.co/WSKkFZEMB4@RakeyshOmMehra @prasoonjoshi_ @_MohitChauhan pic.twitter.com/9aigZaW2Ac
— A.R.Rahman (@arrahman) April 8, 2020
Later, he took to Instagram to share a more emotive image of a silhouette on fire, with the caption “The strongest man is he who is able to control his anger.”
Even Delhi 6 director Rakeysh Mehra took to Twitter to ask people to "beware" of the new version. Lyricist Prasoon Joshi who penned the original, said he was sad to see the original "insensitively utilised."
#Masakali #Delhi6 Created with love & passion an iconic song that has to be preserved. Beware of the re- mix it will damage your eardrums https://t.co/9NJGza2Vfo
— Rakeysh Mehra (@RakeyshOmMehra) April 9, 2020
All songs written for #Delhi6 including #Masakali close to heart,sad to see when original creation of @arrahman @prasoonjoshi_ &singer @_MohitChauhan insensitively utilised. Upto the conscience of @Tseries. Hopefully the fans will stand for originality. @RakeyshOmMehra
— Prasoon Joshi (@prasoonjoshi_) April 8, 2020
Rahman had in previous interviews stated that he was not very happy with the remixes of his original songs.
Recently, speaking to the Quint on the release of 99 Songs, his musical and which also marked his debut as a producer, Rahman had said that many remixers make a small change or addition to an original song and then claim credit. “It’s holy for people. You can’t take that, push all the names, and put the remixer’s name on it. They don’t even put the original composer’s name. That way, this generation will think, ‘oh that’s a cool song by this remixer'. That’s not a good thing. Credits have to be given and permissions have to be taken,” Rahman had said.
Earlier, even though the 2014 recreation of the iconic ‘Humma song’ from Bombay was well received, Rahman in an interview with HuffPost India’s Ankur Pathak had said that he was against the song being remixed. He had said that he had told Ok Jaanu producer Karan Johan and director Shaad Ali that he did not think it was a good idea.
“I categorically said 'No' when Karan Johar and Shaad Ali came to me with it. I said I don't think this is a good idea. Let's not do it. But they were convinced that Badshah could spin his magic and make it work for the younger audience. They wanted to go ahead with it. Now that the song has released, it's apparently a big hit, so I guess they were probably right,” Rahman had said then.
Before 'Masakali', 'Muqabala' and 'Urvashi,' two iconic originals by Rahman, were also remixed. While 'Muqabla' was remade by Tanishk Bagchi, the music for the new version of 'Urvashi' was given by rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh.
Watch the original 'Masakali' here: