Sanchita
Earlier, Ishaan Khatter-Ananya Panday starrer Khaali Peeli’s ‘Beyonce Sharma Jayegi’ song received severe backlash from the netizens who slammed the line ‘Tujhe dekh ke goriya, Beyoncé sharma jayegi’ for ‘racist undertone’.
However, now the makers could face a legal threat from Beyoncé herself, unless they take correct measure.
The Pop Queen Beyoncé Knowles had trademarked her name, barring its usage for commercial purposes.
As per Midday report, the production house had not sought approval from the pop queen. The makers are likely to rewrite the song to avoid legal battle. A final call will be taken this week.
A source from the production house revealed to Midday, “Beyoncé has not only trademarked her name, but also won a long legal battle to copyright daughter Blue Ivy’s name. In a pre-emptive move, the makers are now planning to rewrite the song to avoid legal repercussions. A final call will be taken this week. With the dance number being called out for racism, it will be an unwise move to take on an international star like Beyoncé, especially at a time when the Black Lives Matter movement has set the stage for equality.”
The music video of the song has also received over 729k dislikes. Directed by Maqbool Khan, the music of Khaali Peeli is is composed by Vishal-Shekhar, while the lyrics are written by Raj Shekhar and Kumaar.
As per TOI, Director Maqbool Khan apologized and addressed the actual reference of the word ‘Goriya‘ in the song – “First, without any hesitation or excuses we want to apologise to anyone offended. We assure you that the lyric in question was never intended racially. In fact, the term “goriya” has been so often and traditionally used in Indian songs to address a girl, that it didn’t occur to any of us to interpret it in a literal manner.”
“The comparison with Beyonce is simply meant to be a street-smart guy flattering a girl who is trying to impress that her dancing/performance is worth comparing to even Beyonce who we all see as the final word, the epitome of talent, beauty, performance, style and attitude. We are all huge fans, and there was never any question of disrespect.”
The lyricist Kumaar also added, “Goriya as a word has been used in many Hindi songs earlier. Our idea was to simply use a synonym to “girl”. There is no derogation intended – we revere the beauty of global celebrity Beyoncé and don’t mean to hurt any of her fans.”
