The Kozhikode Sessions Court in Kerala issued a preliminary injunction on Friday (October 28) restricting the makers of the Kannada film ‘Kantara’ from streaming the song ‘Varaha Roopam’ in theatres and on OTT platforms.
The decision was made after a Kerala-based music band called ‘Thaikkudam Bridge’ filed a complaint alleging that the song was plagiarised from their 2015 song ‘Navarasam.’
Taking to Instagram, Thaikkudam Bridge shared an update that read, “The Principal District and Sessions Judge, Kozhikode has injuncted the producer, director, music composer, Amazon, YouTube, Spotify, Wynk Music, Jiosavan, and others from playing the song Varaaha Roopam in the film Kantara without the permission of Thaikudam Bridge. A Suit for Injunction has been filed on behalf of Thaikkudam Bridge by Music Attorney, Satish Murthi, Advocate Supreme Court of India.”
When Thaikudam Bridge Accused Kantara Team of Plagiarism
Thaikudam Bridge took to Instagram on October 24 to level serious plagiarism charges against the creators of Kantara. The band stated in their post that the team had engaged in blatant infringement of copyright laws because the song Varaha Roopam was copied from their song, Navarasam.
“We would like our listeners to know that Thaikkudam Bridge is in no way or form affiliated with “Kantara”. The unavoidable similarities between our IP “Navarasam” and “Varaha Roopam” in terms of audio is therefore a blatant infringement of copyright laws.
From our standpoint the line between “Inspired” and “Plagiarized” is distinct and indisputable and therefore, we will be seeking legal action against the creative team responsible for this. There has been no acknowledgement of our rights over the content and the song is propagated as an Original piece of work by the movie’s creative team (sic),” they said in a statement.
Thaikudam Bridge also asked their audience to spread the word about the plagiarised content. They asked for fellow artists’ help in raising awareness about the importance of protecting their works.
About Kantara
The film ‘Kantara,’ written and directed by Rishab Shetty, who also plays the lead role, has become one of Indian cinema’s biggest successes in recent years. Kantara has been dubbed in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi, among other Indian languages.
Kantara has also surpassed KGF: Chapter 2 as the highest-rated Indian film on IMDb. The film currently has a 9.2 rating on IMDb, with over 54,000 votes.