A Kerala court has passed an injunction against the makers of Kantara and several music streaming platforms from playing the song Varaha Roopam from the film, after popular Kerala-based band Thaikkudam Bridge filed a copyright infringement suit. The band has alleged that there are "unavoidable similarities" between Kantara's Varaha Roopam, and the band's own song Navarasam released in 2015. The band took to Instagram to share the development and wrote: “Thank you for everyone’s continued support.”
The Principal District and Sessions Judge, Kozhikode has injuncted the producer, director, music composer, Amazon, YouTube, Spotify, Wynk Music, JioSaavn and others from playing the song Varaha Roopam from Kantara without the permission of Thaikkudam Bridge, the band shared on its Instagram page. The suit for injunction was filed on the band’s behalf by Music Attorney Satish Murthi, a Supreme Court of India advocate, the Instagram post added. The makers of Kantara will now have to move court for a stay order for relief.
Thaikkudam’s Navarasam, a classical rock number, was a tribute to Kerala’s popular art form Kathakali, and spoke about its commercialisation. Varaha Roopam in Kantara depicts the beliefs and worship of Bhoota Aradhane in Dakshina Kannada. Pointing out that the similarities between the two songs are a blatant infringement of copyright laws, the band had earlier said, “We would like our listeners to know that Thaikkudam Bridge is in no way or form affiliated with "Kantara". 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 had said in a social media post on Monday, October 24. Kantara, which was first released in Kannada on September 30, has seen huge commercial success across states. It was later dubbed and released in other languages including in Telugu and Hindi.