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Slumdog runs into controversy over song credit
The song 'Darshan Do Ghanshyam Nath Mori' sung by a blind beggar in the film is credited to 15th century poet Surdas on the show, Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. But, according to N S Nepali, the son of late poet-lyricist Gopal Singh Nepali, the original song was written by his father for the 1957 film Narsi Bhagat.
Nepali, who saw Slumdog at a theatre in Mumbai a few days ago, says he is distraught at the makers of Slumdog for "overlooking this fact". "Even in the options to the question 'Who wrote the song 'Darshan do", the film shows the names: Surdas, Tulsidas, Mirabai or Kabir," says Nepali. "They have not given my father's name as one of the options. I'm devastated."
Nepali says his father, who was one of the renowned poets of the 50s, died in 1964. "And it is great disservice to his name that he misses out on the credit for a song that he and music director
Nepali admits that Surdas has over 1,500 poems to his name, but, he says, 'Darshan do Ghanshyam' was definitely not one of them. "Another song, 'Ankhiya hari darshan ko pyasi', written by Surdas, also expresses a similar sentiment and this is the song that should have been featured. But Slumdog clearly mentions 'Darshan do', which is a song from the film Narsi Bhagat.
Avid music collector Amod Mehra agrees that 'Darshan do' sung by Hemant Kumar, Sudha Malhotra and Mannadey is indeed a G S Nepali composition.
Bollywood lyricist Sameer, who has penned over 4,000 songs in 500 films, says, "I know that G S Nepali wrote the song 'Darshan do' for the film Narsi Bhagat. It had music by
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