After Sidharth Malhotra and Tara Sutaria's new song Masakali 2.0, a reprised version of the song Masakali from 2009 film Delhi-6 released on Wednesday, reactions have poured in on Twitter from the likes of Prasoon Joshi, who wrote the original song, and AR Rahman, who composed it. "All songs written for Delhi 6, including Masakali close to heart. Sad to see when original creation of AR Rahman, Prasoon Joshi and singer Mohit Chauhan insensitively utilised. Up to the conscience of T-Series," he tweeted for Masakali 2.0, which has been widely criticised on Twitter for being a poor attempt at remixing the original.
In his attempt to crowdsource support from fans, Mr Joshi added: "Hopefully the fans will stand for originality." Credits for singing Masakali 2.0 go to Sachet Tandon and Tulsi Kumar while the remixed music has been composed by Tanishk Bagchi. The song has been produced by T-Series.
The original Masakali, also a T-Series product, featured Delhi-6 co-stars Sonam Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan. Masakali is remembered for its melodic tunes, sung in the voice of Mohit Chauhan. The film was directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra.
Read Mr Joshi's tweet here:
All songs written for #Delhi6 including #Masakali close to heart,sad to see when original creation of @arrahman @prasoonjoshi_ &singer @_MohitChauhan insensitively utilised. Upto the conscience of @Tseries. Hopefully the fans will stand for originality. @RakeyshOmMehra
— Prasoon Joshi (@prasoonjoshi_) April 8, 2020
Meanwhile, Mr Rahman, who is a man of few words, also shared a tweet within just a few hours of a reprised version of his released on Wednesday. Mr Rahman did not mention Masakali 2.0 in his statement but his tweet saying: "Enjoy the original Masakali," seemed to say it all. In his tweet, AR Rahman opened up about what went into making Masakali a memorable song in these words: "No short-cuts, properly commissioned, sleepless nights, writes and re-writes. Over 200 musicians, 365 days of creative brainstorming with the aim to produce music that can last generations."
"A team of a director, a composer and a lyricist supported by actors, dance directors and a relentless film crew," he added.
Credits for singing Masakali 2.0 go to Sachet Tandon and Tulsi Kumar while the remixed music has been composed by Tanishk Bagchi. The song has been produced by T-Series.
Take a look at AR Rahman's tweet here:
Enjoy the original #Masakali https://t.co/WSKkFZEMB4@RakeyshOmMehra @prasoonjoshi_ @_MohitChauhan pic.twitter.com/9aigZaW2Ac
— A.R.Rahman (@arrahman) April 8, 2020
The morning after Mr Rahman's tweet, he found a spot on the trends' list on Twitter with netizens declaring the original song as an all-time favourite and also hailing him for speaking up. "None can beat the original version," read a tweet while another added: "This is like one tight slap." Another surprised user tweeted: "He snapped!" while one more added: "Two minutes of silence for T-Series and Masakali 2.0 remix team."
OG forever.
— Ankur Téwari (@ankurtewari) April 9, 2020
None can beat the original version #Masakali..my fav song pic.twitter.com/LnCmdtCONn
— VIDYA NATARAJAN (@VidyaN_18) April 8, 2020
This is like one tight slap
— Satissh (@Satissh12) April 8, 2020
ORIGINAL IS ORIGINAL SIR!
— Rakshita Suresh (@suresh_rakshita) April 8, 2020
He SNAPPED!!
— Brandy Sahni (@BrandySahni) April 8, 2020
Here's the original Masakali song:
Here's the reprised version:
Earlier in 2017, another one of AR Rahman's songs - Humma Humma - was recreated by Tanishk Bagchi for Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor's film OK Jaanu. Speaking to Hindustan Times then, Mr Rahman had said: "I wasn't happy with the idea, initially. I was really hesitant about it at the start... But Shaad (the film's director) was insistent. He kept on asking if we could use the song. So I asked Tanishk to come up with the first four bars of the song, and I kind of liked the beat. It sounded good and a bit different."
