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Battle within the bands
Controversy seems to be tenaciously hounding Pakistani celebrities who have made the cross across the divide to lend their expertise to Indian ventures, Meera being a prime example. Now the spotlight is on local crooner and pop wonder Atif Aslam, making headlines because of the selection of his song Bheegi Yadain in Mahesh Bhatt’s movie, Zeher. And if it does for him what thriller Murder did for Najam Sheraz (think Bheegay Hont Tere), then Atif is all set to consolidate a strong fan base on the wave of the song’s popularity that is sure to translate into massive concert ticket and album sales for the lad.Not long ago, two very talented Lahori youngsters swayed the audience with Aadat, but the partnership never ripened beyond the maiden single. While Atif decided to steer a solo ship, Gohar organized a new line-up including vocalist Farhan Saeed and bassist Amir Shazi. The situation went ballistic when both sides released their respective powerhouse albums — Atif’s Jalpari and Jal the band’s Aadat — containing many intersecting numbers with different titles, similar lyrics but different musical arrangements. The matter of copyrights violation was put before the Lahore High Court with the biggest apple of discord being entitlement to the usage of the name Jal. Now, as if it wasn’t enough that Jal the band and Atif were already neck to neck regarding previously unsettled issues, the latest event adds fuel to the fire.
The bone of contention between the two stems from claims regarding the ownership of the song, Woh Lamhay (Jal) and Bheegi Yadain (Atif). Images decided to probe into the matter and canvassed opinions from both the artistes together with their respective managements.
Atif holds that the Bhatts listened to an unplugged version of the song on the website and selected it for Zeher, “We were naturally delighted with this opportunity. We embarked on a 10-day trip to India where we recorded the filmi version of the song. Bheegi Yadain matched the modes and situations of Zeher very well. The DJ remix was engineered for the generation X of the Bollywood audience. Vishesh Films invited us to India after our first trip to be a part of the video and launch ceremony of Zeher in March but due to some already finalized local commitments, we were unable to make it to the premier of the movie.”Gohar traces quite the opposite chain of events, “Mahesh Bhatt heard Jal’s unplugged version of Woh Lamhay on the net which I sang last year in January and Xulfi recorded it. And I am sure that the Bhatts were unaware of the real proprietors of the song when they ended up selecting Atif.” Gohar emphasizes that Atif should come clean and rightfully mention Jal’s name with the song instead of the Indian composers who are reaping the rewards of this composition in India.
So did Atif come up with Bheegi Yadain all by himself? “I wonder why people are still confused when I have the copyrights for the song. It’s not as if Gohar played some tunes on the guitar with me in some jam sessions and he ends up owning my songs. He didn’t play anything on my debut Aadat and simply ‘acted’ in the video. I still believe that he wasn’t that bad but the people around him have been forcing him to use negative publicity tactics.”
Gohar, on the other hand, refutes Atif’s claims, “I came up with the melody of Woh Lamhay and wrote the song with some of my college friends. And I also added alaaps while recording the unplugged version. But one thing is for sure — we didn’t make the song in a bathroom. Atif’s stories can’t help him gain any leverage. He claims to have made that song while he was in the washroom but the fact remains that he isn’t a writer. He should give credit to the right person. I confess that he has good vocals, which is the reason why I chose him out of so many college singers for Aadat.”
The Jal singer also alleges that Atif has now copied alaaps from their version of Woh Lamhay, “He has even confessed this in a recent interview but is defending it with the excuse that since Farhan copied his Aadat, he went ahead and copied Jal’s Woh Lamhay. But Aadat wasn’t his composition in the first place and Atif once even confessed in a programme on a private channel that Gohar is the writer and composer of Aadat.”So how would Atif defend himself against the allegations of lifting certain elements from Gohar’s version of the same song? “Well Gohar stole my songs like Bheegi Yadain and Dil Haray and made their low-quality videos in a rush to ensure his presence in the media. It was really disappointing until I got this opportunity to sing that version of Bheegi Yadain in India which was uploaded on my website. I didn’t steal it, it already belonged to me. Currently, I am composing songs for my new album and am waiting for Gohar to claim them as well,” Atif adds as a candid afterthought.
Shahbaz Aslam, Atif’s manager, maintains that the public is the best judge and that Gohar’s clique hasn’t gained anything from their publicity stunts. He also criticizes the way things are being run on Gohar’s side, “It’s a general practice that one manager handles one band at a time. But in this case, there are three bands being managed by a single person who is himself a drummer, so one can very well imagine the quality of management being delivered.”
On the other hand, Khurram J. Khan, head of Jilawatan Productions and manager of Call, Jal the band and EP lays down Jal’s strategy: “Strategically, we have always stuck to the faith that we have talent and we can survive as a band if we focus on long-term goals. Since parting ways with Atif, we have no desire to waste our energies on his unethical behaviour which we anticipate will continue.”
With incongruous statements from both quarters, one is naturally confounded about what to believe, and for that matter, who to believe. The entire controversy raises some very serious questions about the loopholes in the copyright acts in Pakistan. While on their part, Atif Aslam and Gohar Mumtaz are giving the local music industry its fair share of soap opera masala.
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