Kantara Plagiarism Row: Kerala Court Bars Makers From Playing Varaha Roopam In Theatres

From unique storytelling to a plagiarism controversy, Kannada blockbuster film Kantara has been making headlines for several reasons. However, the plagiarism row seems to have reached a turning point now. On Friday (October 28), a Kozhikode sessions court issued an order directing the makers to stop playing the Varaha Roopam song in theatres.

The court's ruling came after it received a plagiarism lawsuit from a famous Malayalam music band named Thaikkudam Bridge. The court has also barred the song from being played on all major streaming platforms.

The renowned music band Thaikkudam Bridge had earlier accused Kantara's makers of copying their song Navarasam and stated that they would take legal action against the film's creative team for plagiarism.

And now, the session court has ordered the song to be stopped from playing in theaters. The band took to their Instagram handle to share the court's update that prohibits the makers from playing Varaha Roopam on theatres and streaming platforms due to copyright infringement.

The band's post 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 Varaha Roopam in the film Kantara without the permission of Thaikudam Bridge".

For the unversed, Kantara got embroiled in controversy after Thaikkudam Bridge alleged Kantara's Varaha Roopam song was a copy of their popular track Navarasam. The band's claims received support from many in the industry and on social media as well. But the makers of Kantara stated that both songs sound similar because they are based on the same raga. Thaikkudam Bridge, however, refused to accept their clarification.

Kantara has been written and directed by Rishab Shetty, who has also played the lead role in the film. The film emerged as one of India's highest rated films of recent years. Set in the backdrop of the coastal Karnataka region, Kantara has been receiving a lot of love from viewers for its excellent performance, writing and direction. Owing to its success in Karnataka, the makers later decided to release the film's dubbed version in other major Indian languages, including Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi.