Rock On 2 team deny plagiarism charges

The band Magik made a comeback after eight long years on the big screen last weekend with Rock On 2. The team was in for a not-so pleasant surprise on Sunday, however, when he family of the late khasi artist, E Brektist R Wanswett, claimed that a track titles Hoi Kiw (Chalo Chalo) was plagiarised from him.

However, the Rock On 2 team has denied the charge outright, and has also expressed abundant distrust at the timing of the allegation, since the film is already out. Says Farhan Akhtar, “It’s a song by the band Somersault (from Meghalaya). They’ve given us the rights to use it. Where is the question of plagiarism?”

Farhan’s partner and friend Ritesh Sidwani states that they also have the official licenses for the song with them. He says, “The song is owned and officially licensed by Somersault to us. They are a local band and have been duly credited for their work.” Adds composer Shankar Mahadevan, “They’ve sung it in their own language and we’ve given them credit for it.”

The director of the movie Shujaat Saudagar sees this attempt to muscle into the copyright territory as nothing but mischief. He says, “It’s a khasi folk song and the band Somersault have done their own rendition of it. There is nothing to copy in it. Only Kit, the lead singer of the band, can verify this.”