Did Raftaar Just Copy BTS RM’s Music Video?
The video for the Bollywood rapper’s new track ‘MANTOIYAT’ bears striking similarities to the South Korean rapper’s 2015 video for ‘Do You’
Raftaar's "MANTOIYAT" borrows zoom-in camera angles, close-up face shots, set designs and the wardrobe from RM's "Do You."
While Bollywood isn’t new to plagiarism, the most recent incident may be the most outrageous example yet. Prominent Hindi rapper Raftaar is currently under fire for the striking similarities his new music video “MANTOIYAT” (which dropped on September 12th) bears to South Korean group BTS’ leader RM’s solo 2015 release “Do You.”
Directed by Mumbai-based filmmaker Shalini Harshwal, “MANTOIYAT” borrows zoom-in camera angles, close-up face shots, set designs and Raftaar’s head-to-toe black wardrobe from “Do You”; scenes of actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui woven in and the color format instead of black and white are the only differences. “MANTOIYAT” features in the soundtrack for the upcoming Indian biographical film Manto, in which Siddiqui portrays Pakistani author and playwright Saadat Hasan Manto.
RM’s “Do You”
Raftaar’s “MANTOIYAT”
Indian members of BTS’ fandom ARMY noticed the resemblance immediately and took to social media and the video’s YouTube comments section to call out the folly. Many have even tagged the group’s label BigHit Entertainment on Twitter to bring the company’s attention to the incident.
So Indian Videographers watched DO YOU but forgot the name maybe @BigHitEnt @bts_bighit please look into the matter and remind them pic.twitter.com/yoisFtosYq
”” tia appie (@tia_appie) September 13, 2018
I just checked it out. The scenes are totally from ‘Do you’. I mean, why can’t bollywood ever come up with something original?
”” Hakuna ma TATA (@Angel17Purple) September 13, 2018
Fans have also called out India’s infamous double standards when it comes to K-pop and Asian artists:
Listen the lyrics of the song by raftaar are great no doubt but this is….pure copy. Kpop is ridiculed in India and termed as gay but now an Indian rapper copied from a kpop artist…..atleast give credits. The only difference is the filter here….. pic.twitter.com/Ku6RcbxHSi
”” Chanchal (@confusedarmy_) September 13, 2018
Other incidents of Indian films and artists plagiarising South Korean artists’ work include “Zaalima” from the 2017 film Raees which had melodic similarities to Big Bang vocalist Taeyang’s 2015 release “Eyes, Nose, Lips,” 2018 film Veere De Wedding‘s “Laaj Sharam” which has similarities to boy group GOT7’s 2014 track “Girls Girls Girls,” 2013 Telugu film Mr. Pellikoduku‘s “Musthabai Vasthundi” which went all-out and lifted Big Bang leader G-Dragon’s vocals from the group’s 2012 track “Fantastic Baby,” and 2017 Telugu film Kannayya lifted several tracks from boy group EXO’s discography (following which the group’s label SM Entertainment took legal action.)
UPDATE
Raftaar took to Twitter this morning to address the situation, stating he was not involved in the video’s conceptualization. However the rapper did acknowledge the similarities between “MANTOIYAT” and “Do You” and issued an apology for the same:
The power to give credits is not in my hand. If it was, I would have written “video sets inspired by DO YOU”.
As an artist I love the way you all are standing up for yours. I only have authority over my part of the content and thats the music and lyrics. I feel sorry for that.”” RaftaaR (@raftaarmusic) September 14, 2018
