Sanjay Leela Bhansali is said to be unhappy with the way the makers of Ek Paheli Leela have rehashed his popular Dholi Taro track. A look at other filmmakers who struck a discordant note for using references from past projects...

Several filmmakers reprise yesteryear tracks in their projects, the latest being the 'Dholi taro, dhol baaje' track from Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' (1999).


Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Salman Khan in a still from the 'Dholi Taro' track in 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam'

The chartbuster has been recreated in Bobby Khan's 'Ek Paheli Leela' and has Sunny Loene gyrating to the tunes along with co-star Rajneesh Duggal. As producers of the upcoming film (T-Series) own the rights to the song, they have re-used it.


Sunny Leone in the rehashed version of 'Dholi Taro' in 'Ek Paheli Leela'

But if the latest buzz is to be believed, Bhansali is not too happy with the recreated version. Reason? The filmmaker apparently feels it is an iconic song and shouldn't have been touched.

The original was rendered by Kavita Krishnamurthy, Vinod Rathod, Karsan Sargathiya and Ismail Darbar (who also composed the music for 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam') The new version has been sung by Meet Bros-Anjann and Monali Thakur.


Urmila Matondkar in the 'Mehbooba' track from Ram Gopal Varma's 'Aag'

This is not the first time that Bhansali is "upset" about one of his film songs being reprised or spoofed. In 2012, Ekta Kapoor's adult comedy 'Kyaa Super Kool Hain Hum' directed by Sachin Yardi made references to Bhansali's 'Devdas' (2002) and the latter was not amused. Actresses Neha Sharma and Sarah Jane Dias danced to the 'Dola re dola' track, which was also used in the film's promos.


Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the 'Dola re dola' track from Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Devdas'

The sensuous 'Aaj phir tum pe pyaar aaya hai' number from the Vinod Khanna and Madhuri Dixit-starrer 'Dayavan' (1998) was used in 'Hate Story 2' last year and picturised on lead pair Jay Bhanushali and Surveen Chawla. That didn't go down well with the song's original composer, Pyarelal (of the famous Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo).


Neha Sharma and Sarah Jane Dias did a spoof of the song in (below) Ekta Kapoor's adulty comedy 'Kyaa Super Kool Hai Hum' (2012)

In an earlier interview with hitlist, he had said: "All these young composers tell us that they respect and love our work, but they end up ruining the song. Some of the singers these days can't even sing properly. Then again, saying this is like banging your head against the wall - it's pointless."

The original melody was sung by Pankaj Udhas and Anuradha Paudwal, while Arijit Singh and Samira Koppikar lent their voice to the new version.


Vinod Khanna and Madhuri Dixit in 'Dayavan'

Wrong use
Anurag Kashyap's political drama 'Gulaal' (2009) had a song called 'Aarambh'. Before the general elections last year, Bharatiya Janta Party supporters used it for Narendra Modi's campaigning.

Anurag voiced his displeasure as it was used without the music company's consent to endorse the BJP's ideology.


Surveen Chawla and Jay Bhanushali in 'Hate Story 2'

Reference point
Apart from songs, references to films and characters have often left filmmakers miffed. Bhansali got upset with Rohit Shetty earlier for taking a dig at one of his films in 'Golmaal: Fun Unlimited' (2006).


Sanjay Leela Bhansali did not take kindly to references to the 'Dola re dola' song from 'Devdas' (2002) in Ekta Kapoor's 'Kyaa Super Kool Hain Hum'. In another instance, he was said to be upset with Rohit Shetty for spoofing Rani Mukerji's character from 'Black' (2005) in 'Golmaal 2'

The comedy flick had Arshad Warsi ape Rani Mukerji's character in 'Black' (2005) - he put on black shades and held a walking stick against a black backdrop, saying: "Baraf padne wali hai kya?" In 'Black', Rani as Michelle, a girl who cannot see, hear or speak, senses that it will snow and when it does, she starts dancing excitedly.


Anurag Kashyap minced no words while expressing his disapproval over one of his film songs being used for a video featuring Narendra Modi during the general elections last year

Legal wrangles
Ram Gopal Varma recreated 'Sholay' (1975) as 'Ram Gopal Varma Ke Sholay', which also had a 'Mehbooba, mehbooba' song. Filmed on Urmila Matondkar, the item number borrowed its beats from the original R D Burman number featuring Helen and Jalal Agha, although it had a new set of lyrics. However, it was not just the song, but the entire film that ticked off the makers of the cult movie.

The matter was taken to court, which ordered a change of title along with character names as it was an infringement of the Sippys' trademark and copyright. It was renamed as 'Aag'. The film was heavily panned by critics and became the biggest Bollywood flop of 2007. It featured Amitabh Bachchan, Mohanlal, Ajay Devgan, Prashant Raj Sachdev and Sushmita Sen.