Rapper and singer Badshah’s latest song featuring actress Jacqueline Fernandez has come under the hammer. The song ‘Genda Phool’ has been accused of stealing lyrics from a Bengali folk song with the same ‘wordings’.
“Boroloker bitilo, lomba lomba chul, Emon mathay bnedhe debo lal genda phool”, the chorus in the song is accused to be taken from Bengali folk song. The lyrics translate to “The rich man’s daughter has long hair, I want to tie a marigold on it”. This is taken from Bengali song Borloker Bitilo, which was written by Ratan Kahar in the 1970s .
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The song makers, however, didn’t give credits to Kahar. Kahar who lives in grim poverty, said that he does not even have money to drag the matter to court. ” I wrote the song Boroloker Bitilo. The music, the words, everything is mine. Now, if people are dishonest, what can I do?“, he said.
“I am extremely poor. Many people have taken my songs, but have not given me credit. They can’t write their own songs. They used my songs as their own. I live in a hut. I write songs of the soil. I don’t have the financial strength to drag them to court”, added Kahar. Kahar recalls an early incident from 1976 when the same song was adapted by Swapna Chakraborty. Then also he was not given the credits.
The internet quickly came in support of Ratan Kahar and asked Badshah to give credits and financial support. Here is what they have to say:
I remember his song from my childhood in Kharagpur, my sisters and I sang it often. Badahah needs to give open credit. Rather slimy, this plagiarism. But not surprising.
— Calmpanthi (@jomama_india) March 30, 2020
Here is a video of RATAN KAHAR performing his classic hit GENDA PHOOL from his residence in Shiuri (Birbhum district, West Bengal): https://t.co/akhGFAXgvc
— Rohan Dasgupta (@RohanDasgupta) March 30, 2020
In the end, he expresses (in Bengali) his sadness for not getting credited for his lyrics and composition.
What a shame. Plagiarists have to be dealt with firmly..
— Mini Nair (@minicnair) March 31, 2020
