‘I respect Satyajit Ray like God’

Acclaimed director Priyadarshan is ready to return to Hindi cinema after an eight-year hiatus with ‘Bhooth Bangla’, starring Akshay Kumar. Nevertheless, even earlier than its launch, the movie discovered itself on the centre of an issue over alleged similarities between its tune ‘Ram Ji Bhala Karein’ and the enduring ‘Bhooter Raja Dilo Bor’ from Satyajit Ray’s cult traditional 1969 movie ‘Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne’.

The comparisons have sparked debate amongst critics and audiences, significantly in Bengal, given the cultural significance of the unique composition by Ray. Addressing the difficulty at an occasion, Priyadarshan dismissed the allegations, stressing that repetition of phrases and themes is widespread in cinema.

“I’ve big respect for him as a result of he’s one of many masters from whom I discovered cinema. The phrase you’re telling is ‘bhoot’ – ‘yahan bhoot wahan bhoot’. There are a whole lot of films which have used the phrase ‘deewana’ in Indian cinema. Does that imply the primary one who used the phrase ‘deewana’ has the correct to make use of it? So, it’s solely a phrase. The tune has nothing to do with that tune,” he mentioned.

Recognized for cult classics like ‘Hera Pheri’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ and ‘Hungama’, the director reiterated his deep admiration for Ray, calling him the ‘god of Indian cinema’.

“The lyricist has written these (phrases) and that’s the reason we had been so assured. There’s nothing fallacious with it as a result of our movie is ‘Bhooth Bangla’. You must also perceive that there’s one other movie known as ‘Bhoot Bangla’ earlier than, which is with Mehmood and R D Burman. So naturally, that title is repeated now. These items get repeated. In fact, as I’ve already informed you, I respect Satyajit Ray just like the God of Indian cinema,” he added.

Singer Aarvan, who has lent his voice to ‘Ram Ji Bhala Karein’, additionally acknowledged the sensitivity across the comparability, particularly amongst Bengali audiences. “The music of ‘Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne’ is iconic and something tied to Satyajit Ray carries deep cultural weight. That mentioned, compositionally and scale-wise, each songs are completely different. The one actual similarity is using the phrase ‘Bhoot’ on the finish, which ties into ‘Bhoot Bangla’,” he informed ‘Millennium Put up’.

‘Bhooth Bangla’, additionally starring Tabu, Wamiqa Gabbi, Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav, Mithila Palkar and Rajesh Sharma, is scheduled to hit theatres on April 17.