Famed music composer-singer AR Rahman's version of Bengali poet and songwriter Kazi Nazrul Islam's classic song, "Karar Oi Louho Kopat," has sparked diverse reactions amongst listeners and admirers of Nazrul Sangeet, making them say "can't play with our emotions."

Originally written and composed by the National Poet of Bangladesh Kazi Nazrul Islam, also known as the revolutionary poet, the song "Karar Oi Louho Kopat" holds a strong emotion in the Bengali audience. It is considered one of the most famous protest songs penned in the Bangla language. The song has always been close to Bengali and remained a testament to revolution. The song was written as a protest against English colonisers in India.

AR Rahman remastered the song, which is celebrated for its revitalising lyrics and historical significance, for the film "Pippa", based on the premise of an India-Pakistan War in 1971, starring Ishaan Khatter and Mrunal Thakur. The remastered song is produced and composed by Rahman himself and sung by renowned Bengali artistes like Rahul Dutta, Tirtha Bhattacharjee, Pijush Das, Shrayee Paul, Shalini Mukherjee and Dilasa Chowdhury.

Poster of the film

However, even though Rahman's version of the song earned accolades for its unique arrangement and distinctive style, it faced massive criticism across social media platforms from people all around the world. 

One user wrote, "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."

A second netizen said, "This Nazrul Sangeet 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 artiste of this calibre."

Read more

Coke Studio Bangla concert: Can the franchise rise above controversy?

One netizen expressed their emotion for the song, "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 to date gives goosebumps to every Bengali youth. Probably you have not listened to the original song."

Many even expressed that the pronunciation of the lyrics is not right and that AR Rahman has composed the song in such a way that the rhythm of the original song has been lost. 

The Raja Krishna Menon directorial, "Pippa" revolves around Brigadier Balram Singh Mehta of the 45th Cavalry tank squadron, who steps up to prove his worth by fighting on the eastern front during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971. It is going to be released on November 10 on Amazon Prime.