Karar Oi Louho Kopat row: Pippa makers issue clarification letter, call it ‘sincere artistic interpretation’

Along with the composer Rahman, the music of the film version was largely slammed, especially by the Bengali audience, who argued that the new version lost the spirit of a protest song.

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The discontent over AR Rahman’s interpretation of Karar Oi Louho Kopat snowballed into a social media protest with the audience, stakeholders, musicians, and netizens raising their voices. Along with the composer Rahman, the music of the film version was largely slammed, especially by the Bengali audience, who argued that the new version lost the spirit of a protest song.

Also read: Pippa: Netizens slam AR Rahman for Karar Oi Louho Kopat, call it a distortion

On Monday, the makers of Pippa issued a note of clarification. It reads, “In light of the current discourse surrounding the song, Karar Oi Louho Kopat, the producer, director and the music composer of Pippa wish to clarify that our rendition of the song is a sincere artistic interpretation, embarked upon only after securing the necessary adaptation rights from the estate of the late Mr Kazi Nazrul Islam. We have deep respect for the original composition and for the late Mr Kazi Nazrul Islam, whose contribution to the musical, political, and social landscape of the Indian subcontinent is immeasurable. This album was created as a tribute to the men and women who dedicated their lives to the liberation of Bangladesh and keeping in mind the sentiments of their struggle for freedom, peace, and justice.”

The letter was issued with a heading: Statement from the team of Pippa. They further wrote, “We approached the making of this song by faithfully following both the letter and the spirit of the license agreement for the lyrics, as duly signed with Late Mrs Kalyani Kazi and witnessed by Mr Anirban Kazi. Our intent was to pay homage to the cultural significance of the song while adhering to the terms set forth in our agreement, which permitted us to use the lyrics with a new composition.”

Also read: Pippa: Ishaan Khattar Film Glorifies War And India's Greatness

There is indeed a note of apology at the end of the statement. “We understand the emotional attachment that audiences may have to the original composition, and while all art is inherently subjective if our interpretation has hurt sentiments or caused unintended distress, we offer our sincere apologies,” it reads.

Originally penned by Kazi Nazrul Islam, Karar Oi Louho Kopat is known to be one of the strongest protest songs in Bengal. It is said to be one of the favourite songs of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Over the years, multiple musicians rendered their version keeping the soul of the song intact. Recently, a version by Iman Chakraborty, Timir Biswas, Shovan Ganguly, and others recorded millions of views. However, netizens alleged that the version used in Pippa has changed the essence of the song.

With Ishaan Khatter, Mrunal Thakur, and Priyanshu Painyuli in the lead, the film is produced by RSVP Movies and Roy Kapur Films, with Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur as producers. It was released on released on November 10.

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