Munni Badnam Hui inspired from Pakistani movie qawwali: Umar Sharif

Islamabad: The immense popularity of Munni Badnam Hui Darling Tere Liye from the Bollywood super-hit Dabangg has sparked a controversy with Pakistani actor and comedian Umar Sharif claiming it is a "blatant rip-off" from his 1992 movie Mr. Charlie.

Mr. Charlie was written, produced and directed by Umar Sharif in 1992 and included a qawwali Larka Badnam Hua Haseena Tere Liye, Samaa TV reported.

The channel alleged that "the popular Indian song is a blatant rip-off of the 18-year old tune".

"I had penned the lyrics besides playing the male lead in the said movie and the song originally was first filmed for the said movie," Umar Sharif told Samaa TV.

"It is a pity that the original song was not noticed while the Indian offering is being admired by everybody. It also reflects poorly on the viewership of Pakistani movies," the media report said while drawing attention towards the declining standards of Pakistani movies.

Indian movies have a huge fan following in Pakistan and have also managed to revive the cinema-going culture in the country since the films were allowed to be screened in theatres three years ago.

Sharif himself staged a play titled Munni Badnam Hui in Karachi this Eid in which he donned the avatar of Munni. The catchy tune of the song and the sensual performance of Malaika Arora aka Munni are being credited for its record-breaking popularity.

The song Munni... in Salman Khan's home production Dabangg has become a rage in Pakistan. It can be heard blaring out of the audio systems almost everywhere while no wedding ceremony is considered complete without a properly choreographed dance performance on Munni Badnam Hui.