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Lootera composer Amit Trivedi reacts to plagiarism allegations over film's theme song, recalls emailing original musician Rachel Portman
In a new interview, music composer Amit Trivedi opened up about Sonakshi Sinha and Ranveer Singh starrer, Lootera's theme song allegedly plagiarized from an English film, One Day.
Amit Trivedi is one of the most celebrated composers in Bollywood and is known for making innovative and original songs in Bollywood. Recently, he recalled being blamed for copying the theme song for Sonakshi Sinha and Ranveer Singh starrer Lootera from Anne Hathaway starrer One Day. He revealed that it was a pure coincidence, and he also wrote an email to Rachel Portman, who composed the original track, explaining the situation.
In a new interview with Raj Shamani on his YouTube channel, Amit Trivedi recalled when he created Lootera's theme song. He shared that netizens called him a thief as soon as the theme song was released, and he couldn't comprehend the situation.
“Jab lootera ka theme bahar nikla, maine pehle baar comments padha, aur niche mujhe chor chor chor chor, maine kaha hain? Yeh, kya chor, sab chor kyu bolne lag gaye, copy thief, mere ko bhi yeh sawaal aya, why are they calling me a thief? What's wrong with me?" (When the Lootera theme was released, people flooded the comments with 'chor, chor,' calling me a thief. I was shocked.)
The music composer admitted that he had never heard about the film One Day or Rachel Portman before. However, he always prioritized and respected audiences' views, so he immediately researched more about it and listened to Portman's piece, acknowledging the resemblance. Trivedi noted that it was a pure unintentional coincidence, and he wouldn't ever think of copying someone else's work.
Interestingly, the theme wasn't something he had planned as a central piece. The tune was initially a filler used in the film's other song, Shikayatein, and the film's director, Vikramaditya Motwane, suggested using it as the theme. However, he knew explaining the situation and escaping the criticism would be difficult.
Amit was affected by the incident, and in an attempt to find a solution, he wrote a heartfelt email to Rachel Portman explaining the situation. He recalled, "Maine Rachel Portman ko letter mail kar diya. Matlab main kya hi karu, haath pair maar raha hu, mam, this is what has happened, and I didn't know how this has happened. This is your piece, but I also created one, and somehow it's similar; toh maine email karne ke baad socha woh kya karegi."
(I wrote to her, explaining what had happened and how I was unaware of her composition. I told her it was an unfortunate coincidence. But I never got a reply. I later realized why would she respond.) The music composer understood it was his problem to deal with and not hers and mentioned that he was deeply affected by the turn of events.
Lootera, released in 2013, was directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, and the film's second half is based on author O. Henry's 1907 short story The Last Leaf. The film's cast featured Sonakshi Sinha, Ranveer Singh, and Vikrant Massey in key roles.
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