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Bollywood’s rendition of Pasoori, a Pakistani pop song that became a huge hit in both countries last year, is receiving a sharp response from Indians.
The tune was first performed by Ali Sethi and Shae Gill and was featured in Coke Studios Pakistan, the nation’s longest-running music program.
On Monday, the song’s Indian version was released to mixed reviews.
Many listeners criticized the rendition as being superfluous, but others praised its style.
The remake, Pasoori Nu, stars Kartik Aaryan and Kiara Advani and is part of the upcoming Bollywood film Satyaprem Ki Katha.
Since its release on Monday, the song’s official music video has received over nine million views on YouTube.
Given that the new version is sung by Arijit Singh, one of India’s biggest playback singers in recent years, and is written by Sethi himself along with Indian writer Gurpreet Saini, there was a lot of anticipation surrounding its release.
The song still has its catchy pop hook and chorus, but it has a more mellow vibe overall. As the actors embrace and dance against a backdrop of snow-capped mountains, Singh sings Agg lavaan teriya majbooriya nu (Set fire to your compulsions) in a perfect imitation of Sethi’s voice. However, a lot of Indians criticized the music video on Monday, saying that its creators “totally ruined” the original song for them.
“Nice try, don’t try again,” one user commented.
“Arijit Singh is a phenomenal singer, without a doubt. But you must stop tampering with good songs”, a second said.
Others complained that they were sick of Bollywood’s penchant for recycling old movies and songs as brand-new material. A user remarked, “Can’t you people let original things stay original?”
Others, however, defended the song and claimed that its detractors were being unfairly harsh.
One fan commented, “Loved this version of Pasoori,” and another, “Arijit sir’s version of Pasoori, the best gift for every music fan.”
In the 14th season of Coke Studio Pakistan, the song Pasoori, which roughly translates to “a complicated mess” in Punjabi, was released the previous year. The soda company produces the show, which is extremely well-liked in India and features studio recordings of performances by some of the nation’s most well-known artists.
The song was a huge hit in India, where it received millions of views, spent weeks at the top of the music charts, and sparked a wave of remakes.
