In Brief: Why The Varaha Roopam-Navarasam Controversy Is More Complex Than You May Think

Recently, the Principal District Court, Kozhikode (Kerala) passed a temporary injunction restraining the makers of the Kannada movie Kantara from using the song titled Varaha Roopam on streaming platforms and theatres. 

The petitioner, Thaikkudam Bridge, is a rock band based out of Kerala and has alleged that the song Varaha Roopam has been plagiarised from their song Navarasam. 

They contended that similarities between the two songs were not merely superficial or incidental but were substantial.

They alleged that this is a case of conscious plagiarism which resulted in violation of rights guaranteed under the Indian Copyright Act of 1957. 

The temporary injunction order has been passed against the Director, Producer and Kerala distributors of Kantara. 

The court also restrained streaming platforms Spotify, Saavn and others from playing the song.

The issue

There are many grey areas when it comes to issues pertaining to plagiarism in music. The laws are loosely defined and that makes it even more complicated. 

Secondly, in this specific case, both Navarasam and Varaha Roopam are based on Todi Ragam (the Carnatic version, which is different from the types of Todi in Hindustani music). 

Todi is an old raga in the Carnatic tradition and has been extremely popular in Kathakali music as well.

You can see a quick improvisation of Todi Ragam in this video of IndianRaga. 

It is normal for songs based on the same raga to sound similar. Listen to this version of Thaaye Yashoda from the movie Morning Raaga sung by Sudha Raghunathan, Mani Sharma and Amit Heri and picturised on Shabana Azmi. 

Another important aspect in this case, that seems to have contributed to the accusation against Kantara, is that both the songs have a similar arrangement with a heavy rock influence. 

The similarity emerges a lot more in the instrumental section of Varaha Roopam, which corresponds to the solkattu section ‘Dhim thakid dhi thi thai’ of Navarasam. 

Ultimately, the issue would have to be settled by the court with the assistance of experts of both music and law.