Pakistani Songwriter Calls Kanika Kapoor Song "Shameless Rendition" Of Her '98 Song

Kanika Kapoor song Buhe Bariyan was released yesterday online. One day after its release, the song is caught in an ugly accusation by a Pakistani singer and songwriter Hadiqa Kiani. Kiani accused her and Bollywood of a "shameful rendition" of her original song Boohey Barian, which was sung by her and written by her mother Khawar Kiani. She accused the artist and the label of not even asking for permission.

Kiani posted this accusation on her Instagram story. She also stated that she owns the rights to the song as it belongs to one of her albums named Roshni and is based on the poetry written by her mother.

Accusing Bollywood of stealing the tunes of the song for the longest without recognising her work or paying royalties for the song, Kiani also said that she has stayed quiet for the longest but not anymore. In reply to an anonymous fashion influencer Diet Sabya's stories on the controversy, she replied that she is currently sitting with her team to plan what action she will take going forward and hopes to speak more about this in future.

Her statement read, "Many companies have illegally claimed my songs since in the 90s it was an easy thing to do but we are taking appropriate action to get justice not just for my songs but for the thousands of songs by Pakistani artists stolen during this time."

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Kanika Kapoor Song

Kanika Kapoor's song Buhe Bariyan is about breaking barriers and uniting with the beloved. It is a Punjabi folk song, which is composed by Gourov Dasgupta feat Shruti Rane and is written by Kunwar Juneja.

On the song, Kiani wrote, "Another day and another shameless rendition of the song my mother wrote. No one asked for my permission, no one has given me royalties, they just take the song that my mother wrote and I recorded and use it as an easy money-making scheme." She added the previous uses of the song in Bollywood films which starred Shahrukh Kha and Priety Zinta.

"It's been stolen by every other singer who sings on stage while earning. And of course, many singers who produce full music videos, some of these cover videos have received almost 200 million views on YouTube. The latter gives me "credit" by saying "original song: boohey barian by hadiqa kiani," she wrote.

She also said that how whenever she personally has covered anybody else's original, she has always asked for permission or paid royalties to the artist, which according to her is the "ethical" way.

"I'm alive and well," she wrote while asking artists to take her permission first. She said that she is flattered by all the covers and tributes but the majority of them come in the wrong and unethical ways. "I want to make it clear that I have nothing against this singer (Kanika Kapoor)  and the other singers who have sang my songs. I'm just upset with the way that they seem to go about the process..."

No one, including Kanika Kapoor from the names taken by the artist, has responded to the accusations as of yet.

Feature Image Credit: Hadiqa Kiani/ Instagram