Kantara: Kozhikode District Court dismisses Thaikkudam Bridge’s copyright plea on Varaha Roopam

When Kantara released on OTT yesterday without one of its most popular songs, Varaha Roopam, Thaikkudam Bridge, the Kerala-based band which has sought an injunction on it citing plagiarism, saw it as justice prevailing. Thaikkudam Bridge had sought legal action against the makers of Kantara, claiming that Ajaneesh B Loknath’s composition Varaha Roopam was a direct lift of their five-year-old song, Navarasam. The Kozhikode and Palakkad District Courts had taken cognizance of the matter and granted the band an injunction order, whereby Hombale Films was prevented from playing the song on streaming platforms without Thaikkudam Bridge’s permission.

Subsequently, the song, which plays at the beginning and during the climax of the film, was removed from all streaming platforms, and the OTT premiere became a damp squib with fans not taking a fancy to the new version of Varaha Roopam that played instead. In what appears to be one step to success for Hombale Films, though, the Kozhikode District Court dismissed Thaikkudam Bridge’s plea citing lack of jurisdiction and lifted the injunction on Varaha Roopam.

Jubilant fans of the movie began posting messages on social media asking the streaming platform Amazon Prime Video how soon they could include the original version of the song in the film and make it available. That, though, may have to wait, as there is another plea in the Palakkad district court that is still in progress. Also, it remains to be seen if Thaikkudam Bridge will withdraw their challenge altogether or if they will continue their fight, considering they are being backed by the Mathrubhumi media group.

It is to be noted that when the controversy surrounding Varaha Roopam broke, Ajaneesh had admitted that he was indeed inspired by the band’s song, Navarasam, but denied having copied it completely. Netizens had pointed out that there is a fair share of similarities between the two songs and claimed that even Singara Siriye was lifted from the Marathi song Apsara Ali.

So, will Varaha Roopam make its way back to streaming platforms after all?