Last year, Rishabh Shetty directed and starred in the movie Kantara, which was a super hit in all languages in which it was released, collecting up to 300 crores worldwide from a budget of just 15 crores. However, the movie faced controversy over the Varaharupam song, which was alleged to be a copy of a traditional bhajan group's song in Kerala, leading to a case filed by the group and a subsequent ban on the song by the High Court of Kerala.
The band party previously had no evidence to prove their allegations, but recently Kantara's music director, Ajanish Loknath, stated in an interview that he had taken inspiration from the original Kerala private song to create the Varaharupam tune. This statement was presented to the court, which considered it in their decision. The High Court found that the Kantara film unit had violated the Copyright Act and ordered the police to seize the song file.
As a result, the Varaharupam song has been directed to be completely removed from the Kantara movie on digital and other streaming platforms. It remains to be seen whether the film unit will approach the Supreme Court over the rights or accept the decision of the High Court.
