Plagiarism and Bollywood : T-Series Producer Sachet Tandon Shamelessly Ripped Off Calcutta Guitarist Rajarshi Mitter’s Work
Bollywood’s dark side resurfaces as Sachet Tandon and T-Series are accused of blatantly plagiarizing guitarist Rajarshi Mitter’s original track for their song Maiyya from Do Patti. Mitter’s 2018 U2-inspired guitar backing was allegedly lifted, rebranded, and released without consent or credit, leaving him sidelined while T-Series and Sachet-Parampara profit from millions of YouTube views.
The Indian film industry, Bollywood, is known for its practice of plagiarism and has been at the forefront of destroying the independent music culture in India. From Anu Malik to Pritam, the list is endless when it comes to this behavior, and big record labels like T-Series are the enablers who encourage such heinous practices.
Without an ounce of shame, UP-based music producer Sachet Tandon has copied guitarist Rajarshi Mitterwithout prior notice or due credits, in his new song titled ‘Maiyya’ from the Kriti Sanon starrer ‘Do Patti,’ that is now streaming on Netflix.
Don’t get us wrong, this is not the case of editing and sampling someone’s work to create something new. Rather, it is a typical display of how producers in the Indian film industry misuse the digital space to earn money by feeding off another’s hard work.
One-half of the music composer, vocalist and lyricist duo ‘Sachet-Parampara,’ Sachet Tandon is known for their work in Hindi films including Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (2017), Bhoomi (2017), Yamla Pagla Deewana: Phir Se (2018), Batti Gul Meter Chalu (2018), Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas (2019), Kabir Singh (2019), Tanhaji (2020) and Jersey (2022).
Earlier today, Rajarshi Mitter took to social media to express his disappointment. “I’m really angry right now because something really bad happened with me.” He explained how T-Series have stolen a U2-style guitar backing track that was arranged and uploaded to YouTube by Mitter in 2018. “They have just lifted the track out, put vocals on top of it and reuploaded it on the internet”
“This is hilarious to see… They do not have this bit of patience to create something unique and eternal even after having so much resources at their disposal. And they go down to the lowest of lows and they take this path of stealing other people’s content without even having the courtesy of communicating with them, maybe taking their permission and paying them their due remuneration they deserve.”
‘Maiyya’ has already earned over 2.6 million views on YouTube. With composition credits given to Sachet-Parampara during its release. Those who are veterans in the music industry know what that means for royalty distribution. Rajarshi Mitter makes no money from streams or sync-licensing, while T-Series and Sachet-Parampara takes all of the dough.
Directed by Shashanka Chaturvedi, Do Patti was released on Netflix on October 25.
Here are the two tracks below for you to compare and judge by yourself:
The backing track uploaded by Mitter in 2018
The plagiarized track ‘composed’ by Sachet Tandon and his wife Parampara Thakur
Upon confrontation, the thief in question, Sachet Tandon has accepted that this is something that should not have happened. The guitarist from Calcutta shared a series of screenshots in a video he posted on his Instagram that bears witness to the events that followed, once the issue started making rounds on social media. The true nature of the malpractices prevalent in Bollywood music has now been exposed, while this has always been an open secret.
If big Bollywood producers like Pritam dared to rip off the iconic song ‘Prithibi’ by Bengali Rock pioneers Mohiner Ghoraguli for his famous song ‘Bheegi Bheegi’ from the 2004 Romance/Thriller ‘Murder,’ without any consequences whatsoever; it is no surprise that small-timers like Sachet-Parampara were encouraged to take a similar route.
Bollywood music has become a norm in Indian households where kids grow up listening to item numbers. It has taken a toll on the minds of young musicians who are trying to publish original content. The indie music industry has taken a severe blow due to such substandard content, where most of the Indian audience only listens to music associated with movies. This means a lower footfall at indie concerts, and little to no streaming revenue if an artist is not associated with big labels who will promote their work in films.
This is perhaps a one-in-a-million case in which shameless thievery has been brought to the forefront. While so many artists who do not possess the resources, suffer under the torment of labels like T-Series and fake musicians like Sachet Tandon.
Music in India has truly become less about creating art, and more about making money. It continues to be a sorry state of affairs where the real artist suffers every day to earn their daily bread.
An entity of flesh and bones in pursuit of becoming a higher being. A connoisseur of the mystic arts and everything musical. His origins are unknown, and so are his true motives.
