‘Kesariya’ draws comparisons to ‘Laree Chootee’ and folk song ‘Charkha’: Fans ask Pritam to ‘put more effort into plagiarism’

“Ab itna bhi copy mat karo,” one person tweeted, sharing a comparison video of the two songs. The tweet has attracted over 8000 ‘likes’, and prompted many others to voice similar opinions. “It’s such a popular song. Did they think no one will figure it out?” another person wondered. “Put more efforts even when you are plagiarising,” wrote one person.

Abe itna bhi copy mat karo 😂#Kesariya pic.twitter.com/uNtaHKhylM

— 𓃵 Ctrl C + Ctrl Memes 45 (@Ctrlmemes_) July 17, 2022

Some fans also found similarities between “Kesariya” and a Punjabi folk song “Charkha.” Many shared a video of the Wadali Brothers’ rendition of the folk song. “Is it just a coincidence that melody of Kesariya Tera a upcoming song from Brahmastra seems a blatant copy of Punjabi Folk Song…. ‘Oo Mahiya tere vekhan nu,chuk charkha galli de vich dawan’,” one person asked on Twitter.

Guys losing their mind over the kesariya song. It’s a rip off from Charkha so can’t really forgive them for this. Bakwas bakwas bakwas.

— Mrs Khandhar (@ruchi18) July 18, 2022

This isn’t the first time that Pritam has been accused of plagiarism. The popular composer, one of the best-regarded in the country, was previously accused of lifting melodies of over 30 songs. In 2016, he seemed to admit that he had ‘made mistakes’ in the past. Responding to plagiarism allegations, he told Hindustan Times, “Yes, I did make mistakes initially. But once I realised it, I have been particular about my music. However, people keep making false allegations, because it’s easy to do that. Since the last three years, I have stopped taking false allegations seriously. For example, the Iranian band that said I had plagiarised “Pungi” (Agent Vinod; 2012) had to give an apology in court for using my name falsely.”

In 2017, he was accused of having plagiarised the song “Bulleya” from the film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.

Directed by Ayan Mukerji, Brahmastra is easily the biggest Hindi film of the year. It stars Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Amitabh Bachchan, Mouni Roy, Nagarjuna and others.