Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Kollywood recycles Tollywood tunes


If you get a sense of deja vu (or deja ’heard) while listening to an item number from a Tamil movie, don’t be surprised. It’s perhaps because you’ve already heard it in a Telugu film before. Contrary to the old rule of using a Telugu film tune only in its Tamil remake, T’wood music directors are unabashedly re-fitting superhit tunes in Telugu, from Aakaleste Annam Pedata to Bommali, to any ol’ film in Tamil.
Sources blame Tamil actors Vijay, Surya et al for insisting on ‘acquiring’ hit Telugu tunes to help their movie succeed. “A director heard my Telugu songs from Jalsa and Shankardada MBBS and wanted them for his film Villu in Tamil. We ensured the songs had good lyrics and released them. The song featuring Vijay went on to become a chartbuster there too. My song Ringa Ringa is in demand too,” says Devi Sri Prasad, a T’wood music director.
Composers claim that since most tunes in both the states have a “western” mix, it is easier to re-use tunes. “Producers and stars there keep a tab of what’s a hit in Tollywood. Then they convince the music director to purchase the rights of the tune,” adds composer Koti.
Composer Radhakrishna, whose songs from Godavari are in demand in Kollywood as well, says the outsourcing is also due to a lack of original tunes, “Directors ask us for the tunes because at times, they don’t get good songs.”



But for movie buffs who watch both Tamil and Telugu films, it’s certainly not twice as nice, “I was watching a Tamil movie —Sura and was surprised to hear a track from Billa. I thought the music director was talented but was disappointed to see he used the same tune in both languages,” says Rahul K., a software employee.


Music composers however claim that very few people are really so discerning. “People who watch films in both languages are few and they don’t decide the fate of the film or it’s tunes. Music has no language barriers and there is nothing wrong in using the same tune for a different movie,” defends Devi Sri Prasad.

No comments:

Post a Comment