Recently, Nora Fatehi dropped her new single, a female version of the song ‘Pachtaoge’, and the music video faced backlash on social media for being copied from Beyonce’s ‘Mine’ that released in 2014. A comparison of both shows that the outfits of the singers and the background dancers are quite similar.
Hindustan Times quoted Nora responding to the claims by saying, “As we started working, we looked at different visuals, costumes and iconic looks of pop stars from my favourite tracks that would illustrate our concept perfectly. I am inspired by Beyonce, among other stars. Mine was one of the many reference points, in terms of dancers, set-up, and mood. However, the outfit was inspired by Mother Mary, not her.”
Mid-Day quoted her adding, “We also referenced the [works] of Madonna, Billie Eilish, and Zayn Malik. Billie’s dark subliminal-themed offerings represent the kind of zone we wanted for this number. My second look was heavily inspired by Black Swan [2010]; it made sense to adopt that look to depict the toxic stage of heartbreak.”
She reiterated that ‘Pachtaog’ was not copied by saying, “Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s new track [WAP] has the same concept as Beyonce’s Haunted. That doesn’t mean it was copied; it just implies that the zone and messaging are similar. I am happy if people feel [Mine and] Pachtaoge have a similar vibe. I always take inspiration from my idols and pay homage to them through my work. Here, the choreography is original as are the cinematography and the emotional storyline.”
There’s always a thin line between inspiration and imitation – which one do you think this is?