Elvis Presley Birth Anniversary: Famous Songs of the 'King of Rock and Roll' That Went on to Inspire Bollywood! (Watch Videos)
The legacy of Presley was not only confined to Western World, but also penetrated Bollywood. We know by now that the late Shammi Kapoor was a fan of the King, and often emulated him in many of his songs.
The King may not be with us, but his legacy continues to live us now, and even after we are done and dusted. The magic of the great Elvis Presley, who was born on January 8, 1935 and whose legendary life was cut short at a young age of 42 in 1977, is so strong that there are still conspiracy theories about that the legend is not dead, and that he is living a solitary life somewhere. His many, many admirers refusing to believe that Elvis Presley is no more, that something like Death can ever stop him. Filmmaker Baz Luhrmann Shares Teaser of Untitled Elvis Presley’s Biopic Starring Austin Butler.
The singer of such classics like “Hound Dog,” “Jailhouse Rock”, “For The Heart” and “Love Me Tender” was also an actor. The legacy of Presley was not only confined to Western World, but also penetrated Bollywood. We know by now that the late Shammi Kapoor was a fan of the King, and often emulated him in many of his songs.
And there are the King's songs. Some of them went to have their own clones in Bollywood. Most of you have heard of the funky "Jailhouse Rock", perhaps his most famous song, that was part of the 1957 movie by the same name, starring Elvis Presley.
Watch the Song:
Well, in 2010, Karan Johar gave an official tribute to the song in his production, We Are Family (which itself was the remake of the Hollywood movie Stepmom). Picturised on Kajol, Arjun Rampal and Kareena Kapoor Khan, the song we are talking about is "Dil Khol Ke Let's Rock".
While the above song was at least done in an official manner, the next two examples aren't exactly, and these two are very much heart-breaking ones at that! 'Cos the copied songs are definitely the favourites of many who love yesteryear songs of Bollywood. Anu Malik Called Out for Copying Israeli National Anthem For '90s Ajay Devgn Song! Check Out 10 Other Tracks That He Was Accused of Plagiarising.
The first is the lovely "Kaun Hai Jo Sapnon Mein Aaya" from the 1968 movie Jhuk Gaya Aasman, and picturised on Rajendra Kumar and Saira Banu. Shankar Jaikishan were the composers for the movie.
The song is lifted from Presley's "Marguerita" track from the 1963 movie Fun in Acapulco. Watch the song below:
Another egregious example is the famous song "Tera Mujhse Hai Pehle" from the 1973 movie Aa Gale Lag Jaa, starring Shashi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore.
The above Hindi song, that was composed by the great RD Burman (who, sadly, has some glaring examples of plagiarism in his discography) bears a striking semblance to "Yellow Rose of Texas" which, interestingly is a traditional folk song that sees its origins in the 19th century. The song had several versions sung by other singers, with Elvis' version in the 1964 movie Viva Las Vegas, being one of the popular ones.
We will update this story with more examples if and when we discover them. Till then, here's hoping that the King is Rocking and Rolling in Heaven, having already made the Almighty his fan.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 08, 2022 09:11 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).