The very talented music composer Uttam Singh who not too long ago ruled the music charts with his songs in Dil Toh Pagal Hai and Gadar is hardly heard these days. In the blockbuster Gadar 2 ,two of Uttam’s chartbusters from the original Gadar soundtrack Udd jaa kale kava and Main nikla gaddi leke feature prominently. But the songs are credited to composer Mithoon Sharma.
When I got in touch with Uttam Singh he said, “My name is mentioned in the movie credits. But as far as my involvement with the music of Gadar 2 is concerned, they didn’t come to me.”
So the two songs from Gadar Udd jaa kale kava and Main nikla gaddi leke were recorded in Gadar 2 without Uttam Singh’s participation? “Jee haan. I know I should have been asked to participate.Lekin yeh jissko Bollywood kehte hain , the word itself is a copy of Hollywood, so everything that follows from there is unoriginal. God knows who named our film industry ‘Bollywood’. Jissne bhi diya yeh naam usse joote marne chahiye…This used to be a lovely film industry where original work was being created. Aaj iss industry mein sirf paisa reh gaya hai aur sharm naam ki cheez khatam ho gayi.”
Uttam seems bitter about the film industry. “All ethics and culture have died here. Jo na ho woh kam hai.Name me one film in this so-called Bollywood industry which is not a copy. Even the music is copied. Our film industry is living up to the copied name Bollywood.Jissne bhi Bollywood naam diya uss nam ki hamari industry bahot izzat kar rahen hain.”