‘Kantara’ plagiarism row: Kerala Court lifts ban on ‘Varaha Roopam’
In a major setback to Kerala band Thaikkudam Bridge, a Kerala Court has lifted the ban on the song Varaha Roopam from the Kannada blockbuster Kantara. Earlier, the court had imposed an interim injunction against playing the song in the movie. The band accused the makers of Kantara of plagiarizing their song Navarasa. The court on Friday dismissed the plea citing lack of jurisdiction.
Why does this story matter?
The original Kannada version of Kantara was released on September 30. Later, the film was dubbed and released in other languages, including Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, and Hindi, weeks after the Kannada film's release following its huge success. Varaha Roopam is an important song for Kantara, which plays during a crucial moment in the movie. And its removal did not go well with the fans.
'Kantara' debuted on OTT without 'Varaha Roopam'
Kantara debuted on Amazon Prime Video on Thursday without the Varaha Roopam song. Unimpressed fans took to social media and expressed their desire to watch the movie with the song. Twitter started trending the hashtag #BringBackVarahaRoopam. Some even pointed out that the movie's soul lied in the song. It's to be seen if the song will be included in the OTT version now.
Thaikkudam Bridge had reacted to removal of 'Varaha Roopam'
Thaikkudam Bridge took to Instagram to express their happiness over the removal of Varaha Roopam from the OTT version. They wrote, "Amazon Prime has removed the plagiarised version of our song Navarasam from the movie Kantara. Justice Prevails! Thanks to our Attorney: Satish Murthi & our mentor Mathrubhumi @mathrubhuminewstv for their unstinted support. Thanks to our Musician fraternity, fans, and media (sic)."
All you need to know about the controversy
Thaikkudam Bridge filed a case against Kantara alleging Varaha Roopam was copied from the band's popular 2015 number Navarasam. The makers of Kantara claimed it sounded similar as both songs are of similar ragas. Kantara, written and directed by Rishab Shetty, also stars him as the lead actor. Sapthami Gowda, Kishore, and Achyuth Kumar feature in the movie produced by Hombale Films.
