Costly Vintage Songs Vs Free Old Songs

Last weekend, Samantha’s Maa Inti Bangaram got released and the film has already minted ₹35 crores from the Telugu box office. Many are saying that the song “Mutyamantha Pasupu” was used quite spot-on by the team, and they are hailing this. Some are even saying that after Vijay “Leo” used an Ilayaraja song quite well, regarding which they have faced some controversy as well, only Samantha’s film got it right. Here’s an interesting remark.

To use the vintage songs, like how Dhurandhar, Dacoit and many other films have done in recent times, it’s not just the creative brain of the director, but the deep pockets of the producer that are needed. To use an old 90s hit titled Thottu Thottu Pesum Sultana in Ajith’s Good Bad Ugly movie, Mythri Movie Makers has to dole out just a crore for the song’s rights. The same is the case with the Kannepettaro Song for the Dacoit movie. However, much older songs like Muthyamantha Pasupu, which are 60 years old, regarding which the copyrights do not even exist with the audio rights holders, are literally coming for free. So Samantha literally got a free old song, rather than using a costly vintage song. That’s a good producer’s mindset.

On the other hand, in the name of having good recall and reconnecting with the audience, many directors are making their producers spend huge money to buy the rights to some old songs. However, audio companies are demanding more than 1 crore to give such rights, as they know that these songs are becoming a driving force in theatres, to bring the audience to theatres during promotions as well.