Ya Ali, an Arabic Rip off
Courtesy:
IndiaFM
Thursday,
August
17,
2006
Pritam
is
in
a
soup
yet
again
for
plagiarism.
This
time
it's
for
the
song
'Ya
Ali'
from
the
film
Gangster,
which
apparently
is
a
copy
of
an
originally
Arabic
number
called
'Ya
Ghali'.
The
song
'Ya
Ghali'
is
being
composed
by
a
Kuwait
based
band
called
GuiTaRa.
The
band
seems
to
be
very
upset
with
the
Bollywood
composer
using
their
tune
without
even
informing
them.
The
band
leader
Fahad
Shammoh
says
that
they
saw
the
song
on
TV
and
it
is
completely
stolen.
He
says
that
the
credit
for
the
success
of
'Ya
Ali'
goes
to
'Ya
Ghali'
and
therefore
the
profits
should
be
shared
with
them.
Apparently, the music company which owns the rights of the Arabic song is owned by Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia royal family. The Prince is now planning to sue Pritam over the issue and the case is in progress. Pritam however, denies getting "inspiration" from 'Ya Ghali'. He says that he didn't know this song even existed. He says that he was inspired by a Muslim folk song which has been around for centuries.
However, Zubeen Garg, the singer of 'Ya Ali' says that he knew about the original song but adds that it's not being completely copied. Zubeen says that sometimes it's the producer's insistence for a particular and the composer has no say in it.