Jawad Ahmed may not be as well known as other Pakistani musicians who’ve worked across the border such as Atif Aslam or Rahet Fateh Ali Khan but the music he’s composed for several Indo-Pak ventures has left an impression in both countries. So much so that a song from his 2010 movie Virsa recently made its way into the soundtrack of Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania – without crediting Ahmed for the melody.

While the act of plagiarism is reprehensible, this is not the first time Bollywood composers have crossed the border (mentally and ethically) for ‘inspiration’. Here are some of the Pakistani songs that have inspired Bollywood to come up with its own version. Little did the original composers know that one day their work would end up in a movie across Wagah!

‘Munni Badnaam Hui Darling Tere Lye’ (Dabangg)

The song that became a rage when released in 2010 went on to garner award after award for its vocalist Mamta Sharma. However, the awards should have gone to Pakistani comedian Umer Sharif and music composer Kamal Ahmed who came up with ‘Ladka Badnaam Hua’ 17 years before Munni went ballistic. The director Abhinav Kashyap claimed that the song was inspired from an old Bhojpuri folk song ‘Launda Badnaam Hua’, which he had heard growing up in Uttar Pradesh.

Well, Mr. Kashyap, you are not the first director to be born in UP. The song could have been copied long before Mr. Charlie came out in 1993, but since it wasn’t, we will conclude that you took inspiration from us, not from a Bhojpuri version no one knew even existed.

‘Bheega Bheega Sa Yeh December’ (Chocolate)

Indian musician Pritam is the king of plagiarism and whenever he delivers a hit number, one can’t help but doubt the originality of the melody. That’s why when he used Abrar ul Haq’s ‘December’ (album Majajani, released on New Year’s Eve in 1998) in his movie Chocolate (2005), no one was surprised. Not surprisingly, the movie bombed, for it was a blatant copy of Bryan Singer’s classic The Usual Suspects.

‘Agar Tum Mil Jao’ (Zeher)

The first name that comes to one’s mind when thinking about plagiarism is that of Bollywood music composer Anu Malik (okay, his name comes up with those of Nadeem-Shravan). In 2005, he came up with a hit number ‘Agar Tum Mil Jao’ that was sung by Udit Narayan and Shreya Ghoshal but unknown to many, it was the song that made Tasawwar Khanum a household name in the ’70s. The original song, from the Rangeela-Munawar Zarif starrer Imandar and composed by Nashad, is still popular after 40 years and we don’t thank Mr. Malik for copying our product!

‘Dil Laga Lia Main Ne’
(Dil Hai Tumhara)

It’s my favourite singer Udit Narayan again – but I am sure he didn’t know that the song he (along with co-singer Alka Yagnik) was giving his vocals to was inspired from Hadiqa Kiyani’s ‘Boohay Baarian’ that was released in 1998 through her album Roshni. The movie came four years later and just like the music by the infamous Nadeem-Shravan, the film bombed at the box office, denting the promising careers of Preity Zinta, Jimmy Shergill and Arjun Rampal, and ending the successful career of Mahima Chaudhary.

‘Thoda Sa Pyaar Hua Hai’ (Maine Dil Tujhko Diya)

Who in his right mind would copy a song from Sajjad Ali’s collection of songs which have an Indian touch all over them? Someone as unknown as musician Daboo Malik who in 2002 got inspired from Sajjad Ali’s ‘Yaad’, released in 1995 through one of the most successful albums in Pakistan’s pop history, Chief Saab. Daboo is the brother of Anu Malik (surprise, surprise) and yes, plagiarism runs in their genes. The song was filmed on failed actors Sohail Khan and Sameera Reddy and was sung by Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik (again!).