IPL 2020 anthem ‘row’ – Composer shocked by plagiarism claims

The IPL 2020 anthem which was released on Sunday, has landed itself in a controversy with allegations of plagiarism. The 93-second video released on the official Twitter handle of IPL is titled ‘Aayenge hum wapis’ has garnered plenty of eyeballs but it has fallen foul to a claim by rapper Krishna Kaul or KR$NA that it was plagiarized from his rap song in 2017. Reacting to the situation, the composer of the IPL 2020 anthem, Ajayrao Malpe, has expressed shock and said it was not plagiarized and it is all down to sheer hard work.

“I was shocked. My composition is original and has not been inspired by any other artist`s work. It has been created by me and my team through our hard work and efforts," Malpe told ANI.

In fact, Malpe tried to nip the plagiarism claim in the bud by displaying a certificate from the Music Composers Association of India (MCAI), which clearly states that his song is an original. "I would like to share with you a certificate from the Music Composers Association of India (MCAI) which is based on the findings of four well-known music composers who compared the two songs. The certificate clearly clarifies there is no similarity between the songs," he said. However, rapper Krishna Kaul has on social media made it clear that his management and legal team was looking into the matter.

According to a tweet by the rapper, he pointed out, “This is scary! I just got word that ‘Music Composer’s Association of India’ has suggested that plagiarisation of Hip Hop songs is permissible in their opinion because all hip hop songs sound the same. Shabaash! Tumhara khoon khoon, hamara khoon paani!”

This is scary! I just got word that ‘Music Composer’s Association of India’ has suggested that plagiarisation of Hip Hop songs is permissible in their opinion because all hip hop songs sound the same. Shabaash! Tumhara khoon khoon, hamara khoon paani! #IPLanthemcopied

— KR$NA (@realkrsna) September 9, 2020

IPL 2020 anthem

The IPL released an anthem on September 6 which is titled “Aayenge hum wapas” meaning “We will comeback”. It was captioned, “The greater the setback…The stronger the comeback.” The 93 second video features a montage of people who are surviving the coronavirus pandemic but are now relishing the prospect of seeing their favourite teams and players back in action on September 19. There is also action on the field from previous editions of the IPL. The video has seen over 445K views on Twitter and a further 15 lakhs on Youtube.

Even before a ball has been bowled in IPL 2020, there have been some obstacles. 13 members, including two players of the Chennai Super Kings franchise tested positive for the coronavirus, throwing their preparations into disarray. The mood in the camp did not get any better when Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh opted out of the tournament due to ‘personal reasons’. An assistant physiotherapist of the Delhi Capitals side also tested positive for the coronavirus but luckily, he was not in touch with any of the team-mates