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[Copyright Suit by Thaikkudam Bridge] ‘Kantara’ Makers Restrained by Kerala HC from Playing ‘Varaha Roopam’ Song

Tanisha Rana

Published on: October 29, 2022 at 18:10 IST

A Kerala High Court issued a restraining order on Friday prohibiting the makers of the newly released Kannada film “Kantara” from using the song “Varaha Roopam” without the consent of well-known Kerala-based music band Thaikkudam Bridge.

The Principal District and Sessions Judge in Kozhikode made the decision over a lawsuit for an injunction filed by the band citing copyright infringement of their song “Navarasam,” according to an Instagram post by the musical band.

According to the Instagram post, the court issued an order prohibiting the producer, director, music composer, and streaming services like Jiosavan, Wynk Music, Amazon, Spotify, and YouTube from playing Varaha Roopam without the band’s consent.

Following its September 30, 2022 release, Rishab Shetty’s blockbuster Kannada film Kantara and music composer B Ajaneeshh Loknath were accused of copyright infringement in relation to the song “Varaha Roopam.”

Thaikkudam Bridge claimed that the song was a rip-off of one of its songs, “Navarasam,” which was released more than five years ago.

The band instantly posted on social media to inform its followers that Thaikkudam Bridge was not connected to the movie in any way and that they would be filing a lawsuit.

“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,” the band’s Instagram post read.

It went on to say that the song was published under the impression that the film’s creative team had produced it from scratch and that their ownership of the content had not been acknowledged.

53 lakh people have watched Navarasam, a video that Mathrubhumi Kappa TV posted on YouTube five years ago.

Only 9 days after its premiere on Hombale Films’ YouTube channel, Varaha Roopam has already garnered 1.7 crore views.

Satish Murthi, an advocate, was the representative for Thaikkudam Bridge.