Turkish song used in erotic film ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’

ISTANBUL

Dakota Johnson (L) and Jamie Dornan star in ‘Fifty Shades of Grey.’

The big screen adaptation of E.L. James’ novel “Fifty Shades of Grey” was released in Turkey last week - with a surprise for local audiences.

In one of the film’s scenes, the song “Often” by Canadian trip-hop producer The Weeknd’s is heard playing, which includes samples from veteran Turkish singer Nükhet Duru’s nostalgic song “Ben Sana Vurgunum” (I Am in Love with You).

Duru’s voice has been digitally distorted and is heard in the 15th second of the song, thus reaching 30 million listeners on YouTube. 



Speaking to daily Hürriyet about the issue, Duru said she was very pleased that an R&B artist was impressed by her voice and made a song.

“The Weeknd found me on my website and loved all of my songs. He found ‘Ben Sana Vurgunum’ appropriate since it has an erotic melody,” she said.

She said she had not yet met The Weeknd, but permission was given to use the song and her name was used in the album.

As for the copyright issue, Duru said she and Ali Kocatape, who composed the song, were paid for the song.

On its opening weekend, “Fifty Shades of Grey,” the erotic tale of billionaire Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) and his sadomasochistic relationship with college graduate Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) pulled in $93 million, more than 40 percent of the top dozen movies’ sales.