Sampath, currently being seen in Bollywood as the anti-plagiarism champ, says. "A few years ago my wife Sona came out with an album which INXS heard when they came down to India to perform last year.
They were given a lot of music by Indians to hear for a possible collaboration.. INXS picked our CD and they wanted to collaborate with us. We did an Indian version of INXS' 'Afterglow'.
We changed around the original. I completely rearranged it. I only kept the lead singer J.D Fortune's vocals. Apart from the core melody it became a completely Indian song.I added a raga to it. Towards the end of the song I even added a Rajasthani bit. INXS loved it."
Now after the success of Ram Sampath's version of 'Afterglow', INXS has asked Ram Sampath to re-do two more of their tracks 'God's Top 10' and 'Devil's Party'
"It's never been done before. It's a completely crazy idea...crazy not with a 'k', "says Sampath cheekily.
He isn't worried about the repercussions of the Roshan issue. "I sued not only the Roshans but also the cellphone company, the advertising company and the music company that released the soundtrack Krazzy 4.
Because I didn't know who had infringed my copyrights. This wasn't a personal battle against the Roshans. I've never been worried about where the work comes from. It could come from Bollywood or Australia.
When you've Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan on board dancing to a tune you can't afford to make a mistake."