Did Raftaar Just Copy BTS RM’s Music Video?

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.

Fans have also called out India’s infamous double standards when it comes to K-pop and Asian artists:

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’sSM 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: