Nath Yogi lyricist says he will sue Kailash Kher
Lyricist of the theme song of Gorakhpur Mahotsav titled ‘Nath Yogi’ Vimal Bawra says he will file a defamation case against Bollywood singer Kailash Kher, who had accused Bawra of copying his ‘Adi Yogi’ tune and lyrics.
Lyricist of the theme song of Gorakhpur Mahotsav titled ‘Nath Yogi’ Vimal Bawra says he will file a defamation case against Bollywood singer Kailash Kher, who had accused Bawra of copying his ‘Adi Yogi’ tune and lyrics, sung by Kher in a programme attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Coimbatore in February last year.
The song ‘Nath Yogi’ is dedicated to the Nath Sect, to which chief minister Yogi Adityanath belongs. The six-minute Nath Yogi song, which praises Gorakhpur for its vivid culture and great personalities, will be played during the three-day Gorakhpur Mahotsav, to be held from January 11.
Bawra, whose 19-year-old son Pravin Singh has sung the theme song, also accuses Kher of copying Bhojpuri numbers. He says many other Bollywood singer would also be exposed if he speaks out.
“I am consulting my legal adviser to file a defamation suit against him (Kailash Kher). One who himself is copying tunes is accusing us. As for the tune, my song Nath Yogi is a traditional Bhojpuri song on which many songs, including ‘Neeb ke gachhia’, have been based earlier. We have not copied the tune. Only the raga is the same. Raga is not a subject of copyright,” Bawra says.
“As for lyrics, nothing except one word ‘Yogi’ is common between his song and mine. We used this word because no other word could have been used for Yogi Adityanath. Kher is jealous of the popularity of my song. This was not expected from a great artiste like him,” says Bawra while claiming tunes, including Mangal Pandey’s ‘Mangala Mangala’ and Kabir’s ‘Naiharwa na hamka bhawe’ from album Kailasa, were copied from Bhojpuri.
“As per copy right acts, for any violation, the first two lines of song must exactly match. Secondly, the song should have been used for commercial purposes. Here no line of Nath Yogi matches with that of ‘Adi Yogi’ nor have I used it for commercial purposes. It will be sung in Goralhpur Mahotsav only,” says Bawra.
The 45-year-old says he will meet Yogi Adityanath and urge him to take steps so that no artistes in Bollywood could copy Bhojpuri tunes.
Gorakhpur divisional commissioner Anil Kumar says he is unaware of the development. “We have received no complaint about any copyrights violation related to theme song of Gorakhpur Mahotsav,” he says.
Kumar heads the committee, which has been constituted to manage the Gorakhpur Mahotsav.