‘Sadak 2’ makers accused of stealing Pakistani singer’s song

Things do not appear to be going well for Sadak 2. After becoming the most disliked trailer on YouTube with more than 8 million dislikes, the makers of the film have come under fire for stealing a Pakistani song and not giving the artist his due credit.

The matter came to light when Pakistani artist Shezan Saleem a.k.a JO-G, who is also the son of veteran musician and singer Saleem Javaid, uploaded a video in which he compares a song of the film Ishq Kamaal with a composition of his Rabba Ho released in 2011.

“A trailer for a Bollywood movie called Sadak 2 has just been released, and there is a song in it called Ishq Kamaal,” says Saleem in the video. “After listening to it, I realised that it sounds like a composition I had produced for a friend around 11 years ago. The friend’s name is Zaid Khan. I think they’ve copied it because not only the melody but the music is also very similar.”

Saleem then played both the songs and asked his followers to share their opinion on the matter. He later added that he will not stay quiet on the matter.

I won't stay quiet on this..
Sadak 2 Song Ishq Kamaal Copied from Our Pakistani song Rabba Ho from 2011 I produced the music of that song https://t.co/HfdNHqXcan

— Shezan Saleem a.k.a JO-G (@ssaleemofficial) August 13, 2020

Social media users hit out at the makers of the film, and the Bhatts in particular, for stealing the song.

This is absolutely shameless behavior of Bollywood music directors. How can u copy and then don't even acknowledge it..this is not China that u will start copying everything. As Bollywood want piracy to be stopped , they also need to stop lifting songs from everywhere illegally..

— Ranjan (@ranjanninu) August 13, 2020

However, Saleem defended Mahesh and called him a “fine man”. He lamented that the music producers should be asked about this plagiarism.

Can't say that about Bhatt Saab. He is a fine man. He came to our house in Karachi in 2005. Also picked up a few songs that I produced for my dad back in the day for his upcoming movies. Then due to India-Pak tension never got released. Bt the music producers should be asked this

— Shezan Saleem a.k.a JO-G (@ssaleemofficial) August 12, 2020

According to a report in the Hindustan Times, Pooja Bhatt, who is one of the leads in the film, had previously said that Sadak 2 will introduce fresh music talent.

She had credited the song to a ‘music teacher from Chandigarh’, who had come to their office with “no prior appointment, a dream, a harmonium and a brilliant song called Ishq Kamaal.

Even #Sadak2 gives birth to a brand new talent in the form of @Suniljeet72 A music teacher from Chandigarh who came to our office with no prior appointment,a dream,a harmonium & a brilliant song called ‘Ishq Kamaal’ that was absorbed into the film on first hearing by my father.

— Pooja Bhatt (@PoojaB1972) July 8, 2020

Meanwhile, the composer of the song Suniljeet has denied the accusations and said that the song is his original composition.

“Ishq Kamaal is my original composition and doesn’t share a resemblance to any other song,” said Suniljeet. “Everybody involved in making this song including singer Javed Ali has added his magic to the music. This is my debut as a music director and all I hope for is that people like the song when it comes out. Shalu Vaish and I have worked with all our heart to live up to the expectation of Sadak 2 music.”

However, Saleem did not buy his arguments.

Ask any musician who is genuine and honest, they will listen to it and will say that how much both the compositions are similar. 10s of 1000s are listening to both knows it now as well. Original composition after 9 years of our original release? WOWhttps://t.co/gd4AGQYEF1 https://t.co/7IxE2kjUWi

— Shezan Saleem a.k.a JO-G (@ssaleemofficial) August 13, 2020

Sadak 2 is a sequel of Mahesh Bhatt’s 1991 film Sadak and marks his return to direction after almost two decades. It was scheduled to release in theatres this summer, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it will release digitally on Disney+ Hotstar on August 28.