Lootera composer Amit Trivedi reacts to plagiarism allegations over film’s theme song, recalls sending mail to original musician Rachel Portman

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As a dedicated follower of Amit Trivedi’s work, I can say that his journey in Bollywood is nothing short of inspiring. His latest interview with Raj Shamani sheds light on an incident that tested not only his creativity but also his resilience. It’s fascinating to see how a simple case of pure coincidence could spiral into a storm of accusations and criticism, leaving him bewildered and affected.

Amit Trivedi’s story serves as a reminder that even the most original ideas can sometimes unintentionally resemble existing works. It’s a humbling experience to learn from this incident, but also an opportunity to appreciate the complexities of creating music in today’s interconnected world.

In a lighter note, I couldn’t help but chuckle when Amit Trivedi mentioned writing an email to Rachel Portman, hoping for a response. As if composing heartfelt emails to famous musicians is something we all do on a daily basis! It just goes to show that even the most talented artists can get tripped up by everyday situations like the rest of us. After all, who among us hasn’t written an email to a celebrity in hopes of a reply?

Amit Trivedi is highly respected as one of Bollywood’s top composers, recognized for crafting unique and fresh tunes within the industry. Lately, he spoke about being accused of plagiarizing the theme song for the film “Lootera” starring Sonakshi Sinha and Ranveer Singh, which was allegedly similar to the tune from “One Day” featuring Anne Hathaway. He clarified that this resemblance was merely a coincidence, and he even sent an email to Rachel Portman, the original composer of the track, to explain the circumstances.

In a recent conversation with Raj Shamani on his YouTube channel, Amit Trivedi reminisced about the time he composed Lootera’s theme tune. He mentioned that people online quickly accused him of theft as soon as the theme song was unveiled, and he found himself utterly bewildered by the situation.

When the Lootera theme emerged and people started commenting as ‘thief, thief,’ it left me puzzled. After all, why are they labeling me a thief? This question also came to me, why are they accusing me of being a copycat?

Acknowledging that he had no prior knowledge of the film “One Day” or Rachel Portman’s music, the composer admitted this. Regarding audience opinions, though, he always valued and respected them, promptly looking into it further and listening to Portman’s composition. Trivedi recognized the similarity as a rare, unplanned coincidence, assuring that he wouldn’t intentionally copy another artist’s work.

It turns out that the central theme wasn’t something he had deliberately prepared in advance. In fact, the melody was originally intended as a placeholder for the film’s other song, Shikayatein. Surprisingly, the film’s director, Vikramaditya Motwane, proposed using it as the main theme instead. Yet, he recognized that justifying this decision and avoiding criticism would be challenging.

In an effort to seek a resolution after being impacted by a recent event, I penned an emotional missive to Rachel Portman, detailing the predicament at hand. As I reminisced, “Dear Rachel Portman, I find myself at a loss as to what to do next, my hands are tied. This is your masterpiece, but in creating one of my own, it seems uncannily similar. After sending the email, I couldn’t help but wonder what she might do about this.

I informed her about the situation, expressing my ignorance regarding her composition. I pointed out it was an unfortunate coincidence. However, I never received a response from her. Later on, I understood why she might not have responded.

2013’s Lootera was a movie helmed by Vikramaditya Motwane. Interestingly, the latter half of this film is adapted from O. Henry’s 1907 short story titled The Last Leaf. Key characters were played by Sonakshi Sinha, Ranveer Singh, and Vikrant Massey in this production.

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2024-12-31 00:37