"Channeache Rati" ("In a Moonlit Night") is a
Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
n
Konkani song.
Creation
The song was composed b
Ulhas Buyao (Known as ''Goyem Shahir'')at the time of the
Goa Opinion Poll
The 1967 Goa status referendum popularly known as the Goa Opinion Poll was a referendum held in newly annexed union territory of Goa and Damaon in India, on 16 January 1967, to deal with the Konkani language agitation and to decide the future ...
in 1967 in support of the anti-merger movement, of which Buyao was an important part. The lyrics were written by advocate and editor of the Konkani newspaper ''
Sunaparant
''Sunaparant'' ( knn, सुनापरांत,) was a Konkani newspaper in Devanagari script. Based in Goa, India, it operated from 1987 to 2015. It published a special magazine during the Ganesh Chaturthi
Ganesh Chaturthi ( ISO: ), a ...
'',
Uday Bhembre, who was also part of the anti-merger movement. Buyao was also a strong supporter of
writing Konkani in the Roman script
Copyright controversy
In 1996, Rajendra Talak produced a new album of Konkani songs, including Channeache Rati, sung by
Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur
and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the ...
and
Suresh Wadkar
Suresh Ishwar Wadkar (born 7 August 1955) is an Indian playback singer. He performs in both Hindi and Marathi films. He has sung songs in some Bhojpuri films, Odia albums and bhajans and in Konkani films.
He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Aka ...
. The album, ''Daryachya Deger'' (On the seashore) was released by Talak's company 'Shrushti Vision'. Claiming a copyright on the song, Buyao filed a case in June 1996 demanding an injunction on the sale and distribution of the cassette that includes the song and seeking compensation of Rs 2 lakh from the respondents. Talak, on the other hand, claims that Buyao had sold its copyrights to
The Gramophone Company of India
Saregama India Ltd. (Saregama refers to the first four notes of the Indian musical scale); formerly known as The Gramophone Company Of India Ltd. is India's oldest music label owned by the RP- Sanjiv Goenka Group of companies. The company i ...
. The song became a hit after Gramophone India brought out a gramophone record of Buyao's songs in 1967. Bhembre submitted that the copyright to the lyrics vested with him and Shrushti Vision had sought his consent to use the song. Buyao claimed that even though Gramophone India released Buyao's songs in 1967, the copyright to their tunes and musical composition is with him. According to the law, a copyright expires 50 years after its registration.
After listening to the arguments at various sittings for three years, the
Margao
Margao or Madgaon is the commercial capital of the Indian state of Goa. It stands on banks of the Sal river and is the administrative headquarters of Salcete sub-district and South Goa district. It is Goa's second largest city by population ...
district and sessions judge finally agreed to listen to both the songs in the courtroom. It was a memorable day for the courtroom, which was full of members of the public and the lawyers. Buyao sang the version the 1960s and Asha and Wadkar of the 1990s. Talak played the cassette on a modern cassette player. but Buyao had to arrange for a
gramophone, which is difficult to find, to play the
LP record
The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...
of the 1960s.
Song chorus
The tune of the chorus of this song was used by music director
Anu Malik
Anwar Sardar "Anu" Malik (born 2 November 1960) is an Indian music composer, singer, music arranger and score composer. He is an Indian National Award and Filmfare Award winning musician, who primarily composes music for the Hindi film indus ...
for the chorus of the song "''Chunari Chunari''" in the 1999
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
film ''
Biwi No.1
''Biwi No.1'' () is a 1999 Indian Hindi-language comedy film directed by David Dhawan, being a remake of the 1995 Tamil language, Tamil film ''Sathi Leelavathi (1995 film), Sathi Leelavathi''. It stars Salman Khan, Karisma Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, ...
''.
Notes and references
Article about Ulhas BuyaoRuling of the court caseArticle about the court case{dead link, date=November 2016 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes
Goan music