Kerala HC dismisses Kantara makers’ plea on controversial song
The Kerala High Court has dismissed a petition by the makers of the film Kantara to vacate an injunction issued by a lower court restraining them from playing the ‘Varaha Roopam’ song in the movie either on streaming platforms or in movie theatres. The Palakkad District Court and the Kozhikode District Court had issued the injunction last month after the Kerala-based music band Thaikkudam Bridge approached them alleging that the ‘Varaha Roopam’ song had been plagiarised from their original work ‘Navarasam’.
The makers of the Kannada film had moved the Kerala High Court a few days ago, asking for the injunction to be vacated. Dismissing the petition, the Kerala High Court said on Wednesday that it could not interfere in the case and directed the filmmakers to fight out the issue in the lower courts.
Supreme Court Advocate Satish Murthi, who is representing Thaikkudam Bridge, sees the High Court order as confirmation of the injunction. The Amazon Prime OTT platform is presently streaming the film without the song, and that is also an acknowledgement of the justice in his clients’ claim, he adds. “I think Amazon has taken a sensible decision not to stream the song in the film without proper acknowledgement. Therefore, they have asked the filmmakers to redo the song and compose a fresh version which has been incorporated in the film now,” the advocate says.
Meanwhile, Thaikkudam Bridge took to Instagram to celebrate the High Court judgement and thank all those who supported them in the cause. “Amazon Prime has removed the plagiarised version of our song ‘NAVARASAM’ from the movie KANTARA. Justice Prevails!” posted the band.
Sujith Unnithan, band manager, also sees the High Court verdict as a validation of their claims. “It’s a victory for us! This is what we have been fighting for from the first day — for acknowledgment and recognition for our hard work. Unfortunately, the makers of Kantara kept escalating the issue instead of giving us the credit,” he says.
Sujith says the band has achieved what it set out to do – prove that the ‘Varaha Roopam’ song in Kantara is a plagiarisation of their work ‘Navarasam’. “We have got the song removed from various streaming platforms. If Amazon Prime wants to stream the song, then they need to have our permission,” he asserts, adding that as far as the band is concerned, the battle is over for now.
Fans not happy with new song
The announcement that Kantara would be streamed by Amazon Prime caught people by surprise, given the controversy surrounding the song. Notices had been sent to Hombale Films, which produced the movie, the director, music composer and Amazon, asking that the song be removed. When the OTT giant started streaming the film on November 23 (in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu), viewers found a new composition at the end of the movie.
The creative team of the production house came up with the new song. But those who had watched the movie in theatres feel that the new version robs the movie of its soul. And unhappy fans are demanding that the original song be reinstated. The hashtag, #BringBackVarahaRoopam is trending on Twitter.
Sujith empathises with the fans, but stresses that the onus of bringing back the original ‘Varaha Roopam’ on Amazon Prime lies with the filmmakers. “If the Kantara makers want to do that, they need to acknowledge us — that’s what we have been fighting for all these weeks,” he says.
Here’s some of what they are saying…
#KantaraOnPrime Watched the climax of #kantara again on #AmazonPrimeVideo. 'Varaha Roopam' is gone. Thanks @thaikudambridge your thirst for money and 15 minutes fame spoilt the spiritual bliss that the movie gave millions of people.
— tweety pai (@tweety_pai) November 23, 2022
Kantara without Varaharoopam is very average flick. If plagiarism is a issue, pay the original please. Even after collecting loads, if you can't pay the original, no class at all. #KantaraOnPrime
— Maaraaaaaa (@NamakkuEdhukku) November 24, 2022
Where the original Varaha Roopam is supposed to play,mute the TV and play it loud in your mobiles 🙄🙄🙄.#KantaraOnPrime
— ಅà²à²¿à²·à³‡à²•à³ | Abhishek (@gundigre) November 24, 2022
Everyone after watching #KantaraOnPrime without the original #varaharoopam #Kantara #BringBackVarahaRoopam pic.twitter.com/hxZ6g1ghmZ
— ಗಂಡà²à³‡à²°à³à²‚ಡ (@gandaberunda111) November 24, 2022
@shetty_rishab please bring back #varaharoopam song, disappointed with the ott version!!! #KantaraOnPrime
— ChaRRRan_tarak (@Charan06740540) November 23, 2022
This songs and the bgm hits very hard because of this we went for the theatres for many times now they not having this version Big disappointment💔#Kantara #KantaraMovie pic.twitter.com/uo2sLJuRKT
#KantaraOnPrime Feel this bgm,🔥 but new version is 😡🤮 varaha roopam theatre version was materpeice, please try to add this song or remove the movie from Amazon prime.#varaharoopam pic.twitter.com/ImPuSIXYtK
— A AjayðŸ—¯ï¸ (@AlisonajayKumar) November 23, 2022
Very disappointing.... Where is varaha rupam original.
— radhakrishnan (@Krishna07807999) November 24, 2022
It feels something missing... Very bad and sad brother @shetty_rishab#varaaharupam #KantaraOnPrime @hombalefilms @shetty_rishab @VKiragandur @gowda_sapthami @AJANEESHB @actorkishore pic.twitter.com/Tss9ZyjN7c
