Is the new song from Cockpit a rip-off?

After taking off on a poster that looked eerily similar to that of George Clooney starrer Up in the Air, Kamaleswar Mukherjee's Cockpit has landed in another controversy. This time it involves the romantic track, Mithe alo, composed by Arindom Chatterjee and sung by Atif Aslam and Nikhita Gandhi. Choreographed beautifully on Dev and Rukmini Maitra, the song's YouTube video has already raked up a handsome 1.3 million hits.What, then, is not working in its favour, you ask?

Well, social media is abuzz with the allegation that the song is a carbon copy of a Spanish pop song, ¡Corre!, by Mexican duo Jesse & Joy that featured in their 2011 album ¿Con Quién Se Queda El Perro?. Though Mithe alo begins with a tune that sounds fresh, it starts sounding very similar to ¡Corre! when the mukhra starts.Upon release, ¡Corre! had become one of the most successful songs for the duo, reaching number one position on the music charts of several countries. It is still recognised as one of the duo's signature songs. What's more, it even won Song of the Year and Record of the Year at the 13th Annual Latin Grammy Awards! Now, who lifts a tune that famous? But then again, it could well be a coincidence. Or so singer Nikhita Gandhi likes to believe. When we got in touch with her, she seemed unaware of the entire hullabaloo around the song.“I haven't heard ¡Corre!, so I'm not in a position to say whether or not Mithe alo is a copy . I com pose my own songs and sometimes, they sound like a random song that I've probably never heard. The title track of

Raabta

was in itself a rehash. One has to understand that at the end of the day , these are sets of notes and intervals. If a song has been completely ripped off another, that's a concern, but if it just sounds a tad similar, people need to chill. Such a coincidental similarity has happened to the best of musicians in the past,“ Nikhita told us.

Both Dev and Arindom Chatterjee were unavailable for comment till the time of going to press.