The remix of the song Masakali from Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s 2009 film Delhi 6 is here – and it has predictably upset original composer AR Rahman and lyricist Prasoon Joshi.

The remix is by Tanishk Bagchi and has been produced by T-Series. The music video features Sudharth Malhotra and Tara Sutaria.

Play
Masakali 2.0 by Tanishk Bagchi (2020).

Rahman tweeted out the YouTube link of the original song and pointed out that “over 200 musicians, 365 days of creative brainstorming with the aim to produce music that can last generations” resulted in the melody.

Prasoon Joshi tweeted that the song has been “insensitively utilised”, and expressed the hope that music lovers would stand up for original tunes over remixes.

Other reactions were equally critical.

Masakali was sung by Mohit Chauhan. The new version features vocals by Tulsi Kumar, the sister of T-Series head Bhushan Kumar, and composer Sachet Tandon.

Play
Masakali, Delhi 6 (2020).

Masakali is the second Rahman composition to have been reworked by Bagchi, the first being Humma Humma (Bombay, 1995) for the 2017 film OK Jaanu. Though Rahman approved of Bagchi’s version of Humma Humma, he later criticised the broader trend of retooling classics and hit songs as a “a shortcut to creativity”.

This is the second time in 2020 that Bagchi has come under fire from a composer for reworking a song. Vishal-Shekhar disapproved of Bagchi’s version of their 2005 hit song Dus Bahane for the movie Baaghi 3. The composers later restyled their composition themselves.

Also read:

Audio master: In AR Rahman’s soaring songs for ‘Delhi-6’, sustained melody and no Punjabi pop

Tanishk Bagchi doesn’t care for the ‘remix king’ label: ‘I am making music for millennials’