Kantara song controversy: Court orders to stop playing Varaha Roopam in theatres

A Kerala court has asked the makers of the Kannada film Kantara to stop playing the song Varaha Roopam without the permission of the Keralite band Thaikkudam Bridge. The move comes after the members of Thaikkudam Bridge sought legal action against the Kantara team claiming that their song Varaha Roopam was plagiarised from their song Navarasam. The Kantara team is yet to respond to the court’s statement.

The band released the court’s statement through a post on their official Twitter handle. The statement reads, “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 Varaha Roopam in the Film Kantara without the permission of Thaikkudam Bridge. A Suit for Injunction has been filed on behalf of Thaikkudam Bridge by Music Attorney, Satish Murthi, Advocate Supreme Court of India." The post was shared with a caption where the band thanked their fans for their support.

Kantara follows the struggle between villagers and forest authorities who claim that the villagers have illegally encroached a protected land. The film, written and directed by Rishab Shetty, incorporates local religious traditions and folklore. Rishab Shetty also plays the lead role in the film. It was released on 30 September and received an overwhelmingly positive response. Due to positive word of mouth, the Kannada film was subsequently dubbed into multiple languages including Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, and Telugu.  The song Varaha Roopam, which features heavily in the film, was composed by B Ajaneesh Loknath and has vocals by Sai Vignesh.