Outrage over AR Rahman's rendition of Bengali poet Nazrul Islam's freedom struggle song
'Act of sacrilege'
Kolkata, Nov 11: A controversy has erupted over AR Rahman's rendition of a popular song of legendary Bengali poet Kazi Nazrul Islam in a new Bollywood film, with the litterateur's family and common people expressing outrage over the "distortion" in rhythm and tunes.
The rendition of 'Karar oi louho kopat' (Iron bars of a jail) was released in war movie 'Pippa', starring Ishaan Khatter and Mrunal Thakur in lead roles.
Nazrul's grandson and painter Kazi Anirban told PTI on Saturday, "My mother had given her consent for using the song for the movie but not for changing the tunes. The way the song has been dished out with the change in rhythm and tunes is shocking."
Nazrul Islam, popularly known as the 'rebel poet', is the national poet of Bangladesh and is a revered and much-loved figure in India's West Bengal.
Nazrul's granddaughter Anindita Kazi said in a voice message from the United States: "As members of his family and lovers of his creations, we cannot accept this distortion. We want it to be immediately omitted from the film and removed from the public domain."
Popular Bengali singer Haimanti Shukla said sentiments have been hurt by the "act of sacrilege".
"I wonder how a composer like AR Rahman could make this happen... No such tinkering with songs of Kazi Nazrul Islam can be allowed. It is shameful for the Bengali singers who were part of the rendition. I am deeply outraged," she said.
The lyrics of the song was first published in 'Banglar Katha' magazine in 1922 and was included in Nazrul's book of poems 'Bhangar Gaan'. It was first recorded in 1949 by a famous label and then in 1952 by another record label.
The rendition also created a social media outrage, with netizens wondering whether Rahman did research before dishing out the song.
Historian-researcher Chinmoy Guha, however, criticised the outrage, claiming that Bengalis are expressing ire despite seldom caring to read or listen to Nazrul's works.
Rahman, however, could not be contacted for remarks on the controversy.
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RJD surprise element in J’khand polls, party candidates leading in 5 of 6 assembly seats
Ranchi(PTI): The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has emerged as a surprise element in the Jharkhand assembly elections with its candidates leading in five of the six seats where the party is contesting, according to trends available on the Election Commission's website on Saturday.
RJD candidates in five assembly seats were leading over sitting BJP legislators.
In 2019, RJD had secured only the Chatra seat where its nominee Satyanand Bhokta won.
In Deoghar, RJD’s Suresh Paswan was leading by 19,581 votes over his nearest rival and BJP's sitting MLA Narayan Das after the third round of counting.
RJD’s Sanjay Prasad Yadav was ahead by 19,867 votes in Godda over BJP MLA Amit Kumar Mandal after the sixth round of counting.
In Koderma, RJD nominee Subhash Prasad Yadav, who was out on bail, was leading by a margin of 3,471 votes over BJP’s sitting legislator Neera Yadav.
Subhas Prasad Yadav, considered to be one of the close aides of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court in a money laundering case.
Party’s Naresh Prasad Singh was leading by 5,159 votes after the fourth round of counting over BJP’s Bishrampur MLA Ramchandra Chandravanshi.
RJD's Sanjay Kumar Singh Yadav was also leading from Hussainabad by 8,213 votes after the fourth round of counting over BJP MLA Kamlesh Kumar Singh.
Party’s candidate Rashmi Prakash, however, was trailing from Chatra by 3,776 votes.
Bhokta did not contest the elections this time, and his daughter-in-law Prakash was given a ticket.
