Two days after receiving a legal notice, the team behind Neelavelicham, an upcoming Malayalam film, released a statement. The notice was regarding three songs used in the film, which were originally from the 1964 movie Bhargavi Nilayam. Aashiq Abu, the director and co-producer of Neelavelicham, said in the statement that the team had received the necessary rights and permission to recreate and reuse the older songs. Both Neelavelicham and Bhargavinilayam are movies based on a story written by legendary writer Vaikom Muhammed Basheer.
Three of the original songs in Bhargavi Nilayam, which have been celebrated as masterpieces of the late composer MS Baburaj, with lyrics penned by the great writer P Bhaskaran, have been reused in Neelavelicham, composed by Bijibal. These are ‘Thamasamenthe Varuvan’, ‘Anuraga Madhuchashakam’ and ‘Ekanthathayude Mahatheeram’. A few days ago, family members of Baburaj sent a legal notice to Aashiq Abu and Bijibal against the manner in which these songs were reused.
“For the family, the concern is in the way these songs have been remixed for the new film. These were timeless classics and they fear the [beauty of the] original composition will be lost by the remixing,” says Advocate Rafeeque NVP, who sent the legal notice for the family.
Neelavelicham, starring actors Rima Kallingal, Tovino Thomas and Roshan Mathew, is produced by OPM Cinemas, owned by Rima Kallingal and Aashiq Abu. The production company, in its statement, said that it obtained the rights to use the songs “from both the lyricist P Bhaskaran, and the descendants of the music director, MS Baburaj, who were authorised to grant them.”
Stating that they followed all legal procedures, signed an agreement and paid the compensation to get the rights and reproduce the songs, the producers added that they have all the documents and records.
“As a tribute to the esteemed musician MS Baburaj, who created these songs, we had duly informed Sabira, his eldest daughter, of our intention to reproduce them for use in our film Neelavelicham. We only began the project after receiving her wishes, affection, and consent. We believe that the current disputes surrounding this matter stem from mere misunderstanding and lack of understanding of the facts,” the producers stated.
They are in talks with the family to amicably settle the matter, they stated.