‘Bhooth Bangla’ song plagiarised? Priyadarshan reacts

Veteran director Priyadarshan, known for his work in Malayalam and Hindi cinema, has responded to allegations regarding a line from the song ‘Bhuter Raja Dilo Bor’ in his upcoming film ‘Bhooth Bangla’. There were speculations that the song ‘Ram Ji Bhala Karein’ from ‘Bhooth Bangla’ features the hook line of the song ‘Bhuter Raja Dilo Bor’ from the National Award-winning Bengali film ‘Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne’, helmed by Satyajit Ray.

Priyadarshan, who attended the trailer launch of the film, however, said repetition is bound to happen in the world of cinema. “Huge respect I have to him (Satyajit Ray), he is one of the masters from whom I learnt cinema. Second, the word you are saying is Bhoot. Now, if I ask you, how many songs in which the word ‘Deewana’ is used in Indian cinema? That means that only the first person who used the word ‘deewana’ has the right to use it. It's only a word. We can't use it if somebody uses two lines; everybody can use it, but the tune has nothing to do with the song(sic)”.

“The lyricist has written those lines, and that is why we were so confident there is nothing wrong with it, and there’s a context to it because the film is ‘Bhooth Bangla’, and you should also understand there is a previous film called ‘Bhoot Bangla’ as well. Naturally, that title is repeated now. So these things get repeated, there is nothing. I respect Satyajit Ray like the God of Indian cinema”, he added.

Meanwhile, ‘Bhooth Bangla’ also stars Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Tabu, Rajpal Yadav, Jisshu Sengupta, Asrani, and Mithila Palkar. Presented by Balaji Motion Pictures, a division of Balaji Telefilms Ltd, in association with Cape of Good Films, ‘Bhooth Bangla’ is directed by Priyadarshan, and produced by Akshay Kumar, Shobha Kapoor, and Ektaa R Kapoor. The film will be released in cinemas on April 16.