Producer Vijay Kirgandur and actor-director Rishab Shetty appeared before the Kozhikode city police as per the direction of the High Court.
Director and Producer appeared before Police
The director and producer of ‘Kantara’ appeared before the investigating officers here and recorded their statement in connection with a case alleging plagiarism in a song in the film.
The questioning was carried out based on the complaint lodged by Thaikkudam Bridge and Mathrubhumi. The complaint noted that the song ‘Varaha Roopam’ in Kantara was plagiarised from the track ‘Navarasam’ made by Thaikkudam Bridge for Mathrubhumi Music.
“They appeared before the investigating officer as per the court’s direction. Their statements were recorded. If it’s required, they will be called again,” a senior police official of the district told PTI.
The interrogation will continue on Monday also. The distributors in Kerala, including Prithviraj Sukumaran, will also appear for questioning. Detailed statements of Rishab Shetty will be recorded on Monday, said police.
The Kerala High Court’s condition
The Supreme Court had earlier stayed the Kerala High Court’s condition directing the producer and director of the Kannada blockbuster to not show the film with the song ‘Varaharoopam’ till the final order in the copyright infringement case.
The bench had adjusted one of the conditions of the High Court and directed that producer Kirgandur and director Shetty be released on bail immediately if arrested.
On February 8, the High Court granted anticipatory bail to the director and producer in the case registered in a Kozhikode police station alleging plagiarism in the song.
The allegation was that ‘Varaharoopam’ was an unauthorized copy of the song ‘Navarasam’, performed by Thaikkudam Bridge band, and shown on Malayalam music channel Kappa TV owned by Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd.
Meanwhile, the music director of the movie, ‘Kantara’, B. Ajaneesh Loknath rejected the allegations stating that the similarities were due to the same ‘Raga’ used in both songs. However, ‘Thaikkudam Bridge’ complained that heinous infringement of copyright law had taken place.
The court laid out five conditions and asked Kirgandur and Shetty to surrender before the investigating officer for two days on February 12 and 13 between 10 am and 1 pm for interrogation.
It said the accused shall not intimidate the witnesses or tamper with evidence and they shall cooperate with the investigation and shall be available for trial. It also said that the accused/petitioners should not leave the country without prior permission from the jurisdictional court.
