Singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya is no stranger to rows. He recently filed a plagiarism case against the makers of Housefull 2.
The bone of contention is a tune used in the film that the singer claims has been lifted from one of his music albums. The composer duo Sajid-Wajid went on record to deny any wrongdoing on their part. They even called Abhijeet an imposter who earns a living by imitating Kishore Kumar.
On Sajid-Wajid
Abhijeet feels that he bears no vendetta against anyone and his fight is against the large music production companies, who are ‘pirates' and have been unabashedly ripping songs.
According to him, it's nothing personal and he's just highlighting the grave issue of plagiarism that is so rampant in Bollywood. He also blames our weak judiciary that bows to ‘bigshot lawyers and judges' thanks to whom his case is still pending in the court.
He affirmed, "I don't entirely blame Sajid-Wajid. They might be innocent. My grudge is against the music production house that directs musicians to lift punch music lines from other's work."
He also laughs off the imposter tag by remarking, "That's a huge compliment! If someone thinks I'm making a living on Kishoreda, I'd rather feel proud about myself."
On SRK
Lately, there were reports suggesting Abhijeet won't work with Shah Rukh Khan again as the former is of the opinion that singers aren't given their due credit.
With regards to this peculiar topic, Abhijeet sounded diplomatic, "I've said the same thing two years ago after Billu (Barber). It's nothing new and my concern resonates with fellow singers who aren't given recognition despite the success of their songs. If he can make peace with Farah (Khan) and Shirish (Kunder) after an ugly spat, then he can surely embrace me too."
On Pakistani musicians
Abhijeet is one of the very few in the industry who is vocal against the import of cross-border musical talent. Addressing this exchange as totally one-sided that leaves Indian artists jobless, he calls those in favour of Pakistani musicians hypocrites.
His sarcasm was evident when he quipped, "I recently joined Twitter and I'm making it a point to interact more with Pakistanis. Why should I be made a villain and a scapegoat for just telling an uncomfortable truth in public?"