Kantara makers vs Thaikuddam Bridge: Kerala band to file another case

The Kerala-based band Thaikuddam Bridge has filed another petition in the Kozhikode principal district court against the makers of Kantara for continuing to violate the injunction order against using the popular but controversial song, Varaha Roopam.

Speaking to the Federal, the band’s lawyer Satish Murthi said the hearing would be held on Tuesday (November 15).

Though an injunction order was passed by a civil court in Kerala on October 28 against using the song, the filmmakers have been “flagrantly” violating the order and the song continues to be part of the film in cinema theatres in Kerala at least and the audio is available on the official website of the producer Hombale Films, said Murthi.

The song continues to be available on other music platforms like Spotify, Wynk Music, Jiosavan etc.

According to advocate Murthi, the makers are “wilfully disregarding” and “flagrantly violating” the orders of the Kozhikode civil court passed on October 28. The Kozhikode court, which is the designated court to hear copyright matters, had issued a legal injunction against Kantara’s producer, director, music composer and Amazon, YouTube, Spotify, Wynk Music, Jiosavan and others from playing the song Varaha Roopam in the film Kantara without the permission of Thaikkudam Bridge.

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Thaikkudam Bridge had filed a petition alleging that the Varaha Roopam song in Rishab Shetty’s blockbuster movie Kantara is the rip-off of their video song, Navarasam, which was released in the year 2015.

“We will now seek an order from the court to arrest the people who are violating the order since this is a cognisable and non-bailable offence,” said Murthi, who also advises musicians like A R Rahman, Gopi Sundar on music copyright issues. “After nearly two weeks, it looks like the makers of Kantara are not afraid of the court and are being ill-advised by their lawyers,” added Murthi.

Interestingly, the Palakkad district court, too, has issued an ad-interim injunction order against the makers of Kantara based on an infringement lawsuit filed by Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Company Ltd, which holds the copyright over the Thaikkudam Bridge’s Navarasam song.

On November 2, the court, favouring Mathrubhumi, had said, “The respondents are restrained from exhibiting, releasing on OTT platforms, streaming, distributing or communicating to the public the film Kantara with the synchronized song Varaha Roopam until further orders.”

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According to Murthi, it is not difficult to prove plagiarism and the court had ruled in their favour. But, Murthi said the filmmakers intent on the “money game” were not worried about the consequences. However, the song has been removed from their official YouTube channel because YouTube is very strict on copyright issues, said Murthi. (though it occasionally pops up under different YouTube accounts).

Furthermore, the lawyer said that the movie cannot be released on Amazon Prime with the song since they have already submitted an injunction order to the OTT platform.

“Ultimately, my clients want their authorship of the song to be acknowledged and recognised. It is their moral right as part of the copyright law,” said Murthi.

Varaha Roopam song is still available on Hombale Films’ website as part of their audio jukebox, as well as on other music platforms.

The controversy erupted on October 24 when the Kerala-based music band, Thaikkudam Bridge, levelled plagiarism allegations against the makers of Kantara on Instagram. Three days later, they approached the Kozhikode district court. However, Kantara makers had denied all the allegations and had said they would face the issue legally.