Kochi: On Monday, October 24, the well-known Keralan band Thaikkudam Bridge announced that they would sue the creators of the Kannada movie Kantara for allegedly stealing one of their songs. The group posted on social media claiming that Kantara's song Varaha Roopam and the group's intellectual property (IP), Navarasam, have "unavoidable similarities." The classical rock song Navarasam by Thaikkudam, which was released in 2015, paid homage to Kerala's well-known art form Kathakali and discussed its commercialization, while Varaha Roopam in Kantara depicts the devotion to Bhoota Aradhane in Dakshina Kannada, the News Minute reported.
A variety of musical genres and styles are combined into the compositions in Varaha Roopam, including rock, folk songs, jok-kay (low tone) throat singing, Carnatic classical, and paddana (folk songs), which are very similar to Navarasam and are based on the Indian notion of the rasa (sentiments).
"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."
The band emphasised that the similarities between the two tracks are a blatant violation of copyright regulations. The band said that they would resort to legal recourse against the movie. "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," the band said.
The band continued by pleading with the public to voice their opposition to copyright violations, "We request the support of our listeners and encourage you to spread the word about the same. Also, request our fellow artistes to share and raise your views protecting music copyright."
These accusations follow criticism of Kantara creators' claims that the Dakshina Kannada region's bhoota heritage was a component of Hindu tradition. The songs' similarities have been the subject of numerous online conversations over the past few weeks.