Music composer Pritam has denied allegations that his latest song “Mashooqa”, from the upcoming film โCocktail 2โ, is a copy of a 1993 Italian track.
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The controversy began on Reddit, where a viral clip drew stark comparisons between Pritam’s composition and “Se So Arrubate A Nonna” by Neapolitan duo Bibi and Coco from their 1993 album “Le Origini Vol. 2”.
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Addressing the widespread online chatter directly on Instagram, a dismissive Pritam laughed off the plagiarism claims by publicly thanking the internet critics for acting as his “unpaid PR team.”
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“Every single one of my song releases comes with a set of self-appointed music detectives, who have created a new genre called ‘imaginary similarities’. Same people, same ‘inspired by’ thesis.. Boss, at this point, you are my unpaid PR team.. I just want to say guys, NOT NICE,” he wrote.
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Within hours of the video going viral, social media users began digging up and reposting old plagiarism allegations from throughout the music composer’s long career.
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“Mashooqa” has been composed by Pritam with lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya. It is sung by Raghav Chaitanya and Mahmood Ruaa Kayy, with the Italian portions written and performed by singer Mahmood.
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“Cocktail 2”, which features Shahid Kapoor, Kriti Sanon and Rashmika Mandanna, is set to be released on June 19. The film is directed by Homi Adajania and produced by Maddock Films and Luv Films.