Bombay (Mumbai) Jaysree and the Oscar

[gnb]

I am happy that BombayJaya Sree (she should call herself Mumbai Jayasree) did not win the Oscar. She has plagiarized a piece by a famous composer and claimed it to be hers! She is a good vocalist fit enough to survive and be glorious in the Chennai scene. She has brought shame to the entire nation. I bet the Oscar Committee was aware of it and rightfully slid her under the carpet without making her a laughing stock. I hope the Carnatic musicians learn a lesson from this as how not to make a fast buck.

[harimau]

I suppose one should not compose a poem calling a child Maane, Thaene, Kuyile, Mayile, etc, because all those words have been used in other songs.

I am sure you sang a song to your son calling him, "Maangaai Madaiyane, Thengaai Moonjiye, Mara mandaiye, Mada saambraaniye" and other choice words in the Tamil language. ]

[cameo]

The Evergreen Melody : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPOLSSOfUGY
BJs Version in LifeOfPi : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oqmAh7_mX4

I wouldn't accuse her for plagiarizing here, if she had the moral obligation to give a courtesy to the original score for now becoming the "Academy award nominated composer"

[Rsachi]

Translations:
http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... 45#p235245

[ramamantra]

Well, even if she has not plagiarized, whatever lyrics she wrote was not that great. She definitely is not a composer.

The system in the West is entirely different. There are songwirters who write their own lyrics and music. To try and juxtapose that system into Carnatic where performers are only singers just doesn't make any sense. Even in our movies, the lyrics and music are by two different people.

Anyway, I dont understand the Oscar craze with our musicians. What has Carnatic music to do with Oscars? Musicians here are not even composing movie songs with Western background score et al. I dont know where they want to fit in but somehow crave to bag the award!

[squims]

I'm sorry to say this, but this is one of the most retarded discussions I've read on this board. I'm sure BJ wasn't trying to make a 'fast buck'. She just wrote some generic lyrics for a song of a mother trying to put her baby to sleep, which had to fit in with the film's story. It wasn't an Oscar bait. The Oscars just have this format of nominating the musician and the lyricist, and in that capacity she happened to be on the nominee list.

[uday_shankar]

Well said squims. That's the sanest post on this subject.

[ramamantra]

However, such a humble/'sane' stance was not prevelant before the awards, whether taken by the fans, supporters or the singer herself.

[squims]

I don't find anything wrong about rejoicing an Oscar nomination, no matter for what it is. It's one of the most prestigious awards for cinema, and being recognised for any part you've played in it is always worth celebrating. As with any competition, someone is going to win, someone is going to lose. Just because she didn't win doesn't have to mean that it was due to some extra reasons. Even before the nominations were announced this year, it has been vastly agreed that Adele would take home the Oscar this year for her song in Skyfall. The Oscars aren't infallible. There are a whole other set of circumstances that dictate who wins the awards there, something that would be inappropriate to get into in too much detail on a carnatic music forum.

[srikant1987]

Meanwhile, ... http://www.theonion.com/articles/240-ki ... s-j,31429/

[Nick H]

Thank goodness for The Onion!

Meanwhile, rumours suggest that a merger of The Academy Awards with The Music Academy Awards to create untold reserves of rumour, resentment, hubris and broohaha.

An embroidered cushion, the letters SK in golden thread... the spotlights dance as VIP of the day moves to open the envelope... The crowd becomes hushed... A look of expectancy on some faces, of despair on others...

[squims]

Meanwhile, rumours suggest that a merger of The Academy Awards with The Music Academy Awards to create untold reserves of rumour, resentment, hubris and broohaha.

An embroidered cushion, the letters SK in golden thread... the spotlights dance as VIP of the day moves to open the envelope... The crowd becomes hushed... A look of expectancy on some faces, of despair on others...

Wouldn't that be worth seeing?

[Nick H]

And...

Dress Code: Hollywood.

] ]

[RKrishnamurthy]

Plagiarism is essentially a Western dogma that is insistent on ownership. One can perhaps trace the roots to the Bible where every sermon is numbered and authored. Casually you can say"thou shalt not steal". But in a formal setting ( a church for example) you have to say "thou shalt not steal, John 103.3" or what ever the number might be. This seems to be more stringent with the academia and the humanities in particular. You are free to copy and sell items which are still under "patent pending" but not after the patent has been awarded. Many international students in the US get expelled for taking this lightly. For instance, if a student is asked to write a page on the Uncertainty Principle, an Indian student would just google the word, cut and paste the first article he or she finds on the internet without citing the source. Such simple actions have resulted in academic probation or even expulsion. In India such practices are commonplace. Thus there is an element of cultural aspect. In Carnatic music, TV and Radio address the issue well by announcing the composer's name along with ragam and the thalam!
Dr Krishnamurthy

[arasi]

How well put!