Carnatic vocalist Bombay Jayashri has denied allegations by the Irayimman Thampi Smaraka Trust at Varanadu, near Cherthala in Kerala, that the first eight lines of the song ‘Pi’s Lullaby’ sung by her in the film ‘Life of Pi’ are a word-by-word translation into Tamil of the popular lullaby ‘Omanathinkal Kidavo…’ in Malayalam by the poet Irayimman Thampi.
Reacting to the allegations, Ms Jayashri said that she only wrote whatever came to her heart.
“I can only say that I wrote whatever that came to my heart,” Ms Jayashri told PTI at her Chennai residence.
According to Irayimman Thampi Trust chairman, N Krishna Varma and secretary Rukmini Bhai Thampuratti, Ms Jayashri’s song was a “mere translation of the Malayalam verse into Tamil.”
“Jayashri has copied the first eight lines of Irayimman Thampi’s lullaby which has passed on to generations and is the greatest among the lullabies of the past, present and the future,” Rukmini Bhai Thampuratti told reporters at Cherthala.
Ms Jayashri is the only Indian nominated at the Oscars this year. The award ceremony is set to be held on February 24 in Los Angeles.
The Trust has threatened to take legal action against Ms Jayashri if she did not come out with an explanation about her song and its “striking similarity” to Thampi’s composition.
“We will not allow the copying of a song just for the sake of getting an award,” Mr Varma said.
Keywords: Pi’s lullaby, Bombay Jayashri Oscar nomination, Life of Pi, Irayimman Thampi song, Irayimman Thampi lullaby
Think yet another cheap attempt by our brothers to gain 10 minute of instant fame. Do not understand what is the controversy about? When one compares the english translation from "A. H. Fox Strangways in The Music of Hindoostan ", there is absolutely no real case of plagiarism. If the mere use of parrots, peacock and honey amounts to plagiarism, would the Irayimman Thampi Smaraka Trust accept that this lullaby "Omanathinkal Kidavo…" is also not a original one because there is folk lullaby in tamil which is sung from time immemorial also uses the same concept. (reproduced below)
"Saaindhaadamma saaindhaadu
Saayakilliye saaindhaadu
Thithikkum thene saaindhaadu
Thevittadha tamizhe saaindhaadu
Mayile kuyile saaindhaadu
Maadapuraave saaindhaadu
Kattikarumbe saaindhaadu
Kaaichiyapaale saaindhaadu
Kuthuvillakke saaindhaadu
Kutti nilave saaindhaadu"
Think our people should come out of this "crab mentality" and appreciate other's good work.
There is no originality in the song-neither music (traditional indian lullaby tune) nor the words (already used by others and herself in her CD Vatsalyam). It is not even the best that she herself has sung. However, if the judges found it path breaking, all the better for her!
I do not understand the obsession with Oscar. It was and remains as an
award/recognition for American cinema. Some are on cloud nine that the
'Americans' have recognized 'our' talent. And this ritual repeats
every year.
Every awards have their own politics and it is most true with Oscars.
Will they be able to understand the complexities in the Indian society
(not referring to the so called 'Bollywood') and sensitive towards the
issues portrayed there?
The cinemas made here are best understood by the people here and they
will be able to enjoy it the most which is its ultimate purpose.
Please do not wait for a foreign recognition, recognize our roots,
preserve and improve it.
The argument is valid to some extend. We only need to compare the lyrics
of both.
Pi's Lullaby: "You are the peacock, the dancing peacock"
Thampi's Lullaby: "Are you a dancing peacock?" (Chanchadiyadum mayilo?)
Pi's Lullaby: "You are the koel, the singing koel"
Thampi's Lullaby: "Are you the singing koel?" (Mridupanchamam padum
kuyilo?)
Other lines also have striking similarities. More than the use of
generic words, it is like reproducing the same idea. Means, the idea is
not very original. Since the nomination is for 'Original Song', it may
not comply with the Academy requirements to be eligible for the
category. The point is, if she took the idea from Thampi's Lullaby then
she should give credit to the original author. Otherwise, fine - all the
best at the Oscars! :)
PS: Since the work of Irayimman Thampi is in public domain, I do not >think there is any possibility of taking legal action for doing a
derivative work.
Congratulations Ms. Jayashri.
I liked her response that the words "are that of love and affection
expressed commonly by a mother to a child" for generations. Let us put our petty differences to rest and take part in the recognition she brought to Carnatic music.
I heard the original in Malayalam and the one sung by Bombay Jayshri
and though I am not a scholar I feel the "mayilo "part is a straight
translation from Malayalam. It is too obvious to me. The rest I feel
is a cleverly masked translation, but I leave it to the experts to see
if it is so or not. The song is very popular in Malyalam and every
grandma and family uses it. I know my countrymen and they will not
hesitate to trample upon others to lift themselves up. It is a song
sung as a lullaby to my former sovereign by a great poet, and hence it
belongs to me and the entire country.
Omana Thinkal Kidavo - Lyrics (in Malayalam) with the closest translation I could find in English.
//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omanathinkal_Kidavo
Irayimman Thampi has compared (upama in malayalam)a baby to almost all of the tender, beautiful, melodious, reverent things known to humans. This was done some 200 years ago. So it is hard for anyone to write a lullaby now, particularly one where the narrative is of that of comparison, with anything new.
Here, the contentious issue is of that of deliberate copying. Don't know if it was 'Intentional'. One could argue that the newer version was 'Inspired' from the older version - Possibly.
But one cannot miss the similarities -
The artfully swaying peacock in bloom, the melodious cuckoo (Koel), the full moon and its moonlight, the lotus flower or the honey/nectar filled in the flower
The lullaby in Tamil music as well as Karnatic one is Kurunji raga and for more than thousand years this lullaby is being sung by any music knowing mother as well as others in some what crude form Even Irayan Thambi might have copied from Tamil Isai. I had listened to both of them today and Jayasri's version is no where near the Malayaalam one.
It's very sad and reflects immaturity of the organization bringing this issue to light at
the time of joy for the nation. Irrespective of the translation of the lyrics, the point is
fellow artist not only wrote the complete song, but also sang so beautifully.
As one of the readers said, reflects the "Indian Crab" mentality. I think it is time to
rise beyond such petty issues and rejoice the Oscar nomination of Ms. Jayashree.
Mr Padhu asks " If it was the case.. why did Irayimman Thampi Smaraka
Trust not come up with this allegations earlier. ".
>> a bit of common sense will help you get the answer yourself. If
you are the copyright holder, will you go after little violations of
one or two stanzas or would you go after the perfect "word by word"
violation?. These things take a lot of time to contest and litigate.
don't question the motives of the copyright holder.. Microsoft will not
come after you if you violate their copyright but if you make thousands
of copies of illegal software,you can sure expect a knock on your door
-- hope you get the point
“I can only say that I wrote whatever that came to my heart,” Ms
Jayashri told PTI at her Chennai residence.
>> She has incriminated herself right here. If someone can show that
they own the copyright to a lyric and you say it came so naturally to
you that every word of yours matches theirs, it is still plagiarism to
call it your own! .. there was a harvard student by name kavya
viswanathan - she too lifted a story from someone else and when
confronted gave this same type of explanantion -- "i might have
internalised what i read" -- yeah right -- i too can internalize "jana
gana mana" and claim it is mine and not lifted from rabindranath
tagore.. best thing for Ms. Jayashree to do is to withdraw from nomination to oscars- can't blame her 100% either since the intellectual property protection laws are very weak if at all existent in India.
This allegations of plagiarism is ridiculous and reminds me of a story I
heard about our indian exporters of crabs .When asked why he did not
cover the basket the exporter said there is no need since all of them
are indian crabs and if one crab tries to escape the other crabs will
pull it down .So is the mentality of indians .They will not tolerate any
one trying to get rewards or money.They will pounce upon them by words
or deeds to prevent them getting accolades.
Well Ms.Jayashri has only been nominated for an award.There is no such
thing as a right time to bring up this issue of plagiarism. Can any of you deny that the wordings are not the same ? It is the OSCAR ,not a local stage show that one should not make a just claim if you feel plagiarism has indeed taken place.Learn to get a true identity.
Copyrights are valid for only 70 years after the death of the author. In this case, if the verses were written in the 18th century, there are no copyright issues.
Poems and songs are born from creativity. Giving life again to an age old poem should be welcomed not criticised and complained.
Even if the Trust were to be true, how about being magnanimous in accepting the magnificent thing that Ms. Jayashri has performed. Join in the achievement that the musician has gained and let us all take it as Indian, rather than Kerala's. Maybe the Trust can explore the fullest potential of such projects as Ms. Jayashree's.
If the claim that there is "EIGHT lines of word for word copying" in
this Lullaby by Jayshree is true, then it is bothersome! She has to come
up with a better explanation than what she has given, so far. Perhaps
she has memorized and internalized the lines so much it came out in
Tamil as a natural outburst of emotional expression. I will give her the
benefit of doubt!
As usual our indian mentality of pulling others leg started. We won't allow others to rise or get fame. Even if I loose one eye , does not matter, others should loose both eyes. Thank you India.
This is the most ridiculous claim. The lullaby is very simple and has generic lyrics that anyone one in India could easily claim to have herad it from his or her mother or grandmother. Every mother in India sings a lullaby that will have a high level of match with what Bombay Jayashri sang. Does it mean she has plagiarized from every mother in India? Also the Raga on which it is composed is also ancient with almost 100% guarantee someone has sung it before in the same or similar melody. So why not start another plagiarization claim for the melody? To me this is clearly the case of "Indian crabs in a container without a lid" syndrome. Think of this nomination as for the country's countless mothers of the past, present and future, and that thought will give you peace.
If it was the case.. why did Irayimman Thampi Smaraka Trust not come up with this
allegations earlier. They should realize that almost all the lullabies have similar
words.
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