If we had a national hobby it would be whining. We like to complain, especially about others, and complaining about others copying us is an all time favourite subject. We have designers complaining about other designers copying their work, even though not many of them are original to begin with. We raise an eye brow at our films being copied, whereas most of them are ‘inspired’ themselves. Logos are copied, styles are copied, names are copied and if we were to believe everything we read and heard then we wouldn’t have a single original thought around us. And the latest issue to jump on to this copycat bandwagon is the fact that Hassan Jahangir’s hot song ‘Hawa Hawa‘ has been picked up, copied and recreated for the upcoming Bollywood film, Mubarakan. Golly gosh!
But here’s the thing…
‘Havar Havar’ was originally sung by an Iranian singer named Kourosh Yaghmaei, known as the godfather of Iranian psychedelic rock, between 1973-1979 and the single was released as part of his album titled Gol-e-Yakh in 1991.
Hassan Jehangir’s ‘Hawa Hawa,’ released in 1988 was a cover of the Iranian original and we’d love to be corrected but it doesn’t look like he paid royalty for it.
And now, in 2017, we’re looking at ‘Hawa Hawa‘ in the film Mubarakan. Catch phrase: ‘Boyfriend bana le‘.
So, what’s the problem?
