Nazrul vs Rahman: Music director grilled over rendition, makers issue conditional apology
Amazon Prime release Pippa, based on the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war for the freedom of Bangladesh, has attracted much flak from all over the country for alleged distortion of Kazi Nazrul Islam’s much celebrated ‘Karar Oi Louho Kopat’ in it’s rhythm and tunes.
Ishan Khatter and Mrunal Thakur star as the leads in the film, but music director AR Rahman has been getting all the attention, mostly negative after the controversy erupted.
Netizens took to social media to criticize the famous musician for the garbling of the song, saying that it doesn’t capture the original mood of the song, which is of revolutionary nature.
Nazrul’s family members are appalled by the sheer change in the tune. They are even more surprised that someone of Rahman’s stature could “commit” such “perjury”.
Nazrul Islam’s songs had been the driving force of Bangladeshis in their bid to freedom, for which he was named the country’s national poet after independence from Pakistan. Demands to take down the song and delete it from the film are also on the rise.
In an effort to douse the fame of criticism, the producer, Roy Kapur Films yesterday (November 13) issued a statement, apologising for hurting people’s “emotional attachment” to the original track, but also defending themselves by saying that they had the “necessary adaptation rights” and that “all art is inherently subjective”.
The statement said that the makers “embarked upon only after securing the necessary adaptation rights from the estate of the Late Mr. Kazi Nazrul Islam”, but then went on to say that that they “understand the emotional attachment that audiences may have to the original composition, and while all art is inherently subjective, if our interpretation has hurt sentiments or caused unintended distress, we offer our sincere apologies”.
