AR Rahman slammed for his rendition of poet Nazrul Islam's iconic song on revolution

A song in the war film Pippa, composed by Oscar winner AR Rahman has irked many in India as well as Bangladesh. The song in question is an iconic one - 'Karar Oi Louho Kopat'- written by legendary Bengali poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. The song for decades has been considered as a protest song which talks of breaking the iron shackles and revolting against oppression. It is a song that most Bengalis in the sub-continent have grown up listening to. Rahman's version keeps the lyrics of the original song mostly but reimagines it giving it a new tune. Many have argued that it does not sound anything like the original, robbing of the essence of the song.

The song was shared on Rahman's YouTube channel and posts have commented that the new version of the song completely destroys the original tune- which was given by Nazrul Islam himself.

“A powerful song based on strong revolutionary messages to the younger generations got randomly transformed into a light-hearted romantic type melody. The lyrics seemed to be haphazardly scattered into some random pop chord progression. There is not even a central structure of the melody. Why AR Rahman? Why butcher such a wonderful phenomenal song? Why deform works of the great Kazi Nazrul Islam?,” wrote a YouTube user.

“Rahman Sir, you can't play with our emotions by destroying the very soul of such an immortal creation,” said another.

“This Nazrul Geeti is a masterpiece itself and does not need any modifications from any musician in the world for it to sound better. Being a musician yourself you shouldn’t have disrespected an artist of this calibre,” added a third.

“Mr. Rahman, this song has a different place in every Bengali's heart. It is very disturbing to listen to my favourite musician destroying Kazi Nazrul's song which till date gives goosebumps to every Bengali youth. Probably you have not listened to the original song,” commented another user.

Kazi Nazrul Islam's family reacts

Speaking to Time Of India, the late poet's kin Anirban Kazi said, "We could not fathom that an artist like Rahman could be so insensitive and murder the song like this. As a protest, I don't want our family's name in 'special thanks' in the film's credit line. That was one of the clauses in our agreement with the production house. I have shared my reservations with the production house."

About the song 'Karar Oi Louho Kopat'

Kazi Nazrul had written the song in June 1922. According to Anirban Kazi, it was a request by freedom fighter Chittaranjan Das's wife to the poet. "When Chittaranjan Das was imprisoned in 1922, his wife Basanti Devi had asked my grandfather to pen something. He wrote, 'Karar Oi Louha Kapat' to honour that request. It was recorded in June 1949, sung by Girin Chakraborty," said Anirban.

The original tune is more of a marching song while Rahman's song is softer with mellow tunes.

Here's the reimagined version composed by Rahman.

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Here's the original version of the song

About the film Pippa

Directed by Raja Krishna Menon, the film is centred on the Battle of Garibpur fought between India and Pakistan in November 1971. The 1971 war led to the formation of Bangladesh. The film stars Ishaan Khatter, Priyanshu Painyuli, Soni Razdan, Mrunal Thakur, and Inaamulhaq.

Pippa review: Ishaan Khatter impresses in this coming-of-age war drama