Coke Studio responds to Tu Jhoom plagiarism charges

KARACHI: Nirmala Maghani, a singer from Umarkot, has claimed that Coke Studio 14’s first song of the season, ‘Tu Jhoom‘ has been plagiarized from a sample that she sent to the show producer Xulfi in June 2021, when she was auditioning for a spot on the show.

Videos of her sample have been circulating the Internet, with some fans and critics wondering if the accusations are true.

However, the show’s PR team has released an official statement, denying these accusations, as well as sharing a video clip which shows that work on the composition of ‘Tu Jhoom’ had already begun in May 2021, long before Nirmala sent her sample to Xulfi.

Rohail Hyatt, who served as Coke Studio’s first ever producer, rushed to the show’s defense.

A lack of understanding about raag based folk tunes usually ends up in controversy with someone claiming their idea has been copied. Songs in the same raag always sound similar. Even the melodies can be near identical. Lyrics matter.#TuJhoom #cokestudio14 #AbidaParveen #xulfi

— Rohail Hyatt (@rohailhyatt) January 19, 2022

“The news circulating regarding the Tu Jhoom controversy is incorrect and to quantify this statement we are sharing this video, which is a screen recording of a conversation between producer of Coke Studio Xulfi and associate producer Abdullah Siddiqui, which shows clear timelines, of the Coke Studio team having already started work on the original composition and song in May 2021, well before the claim was made.

“That claim shows she sent the content in late June which for the record Xulfi had not even had the chance to download given he was already so consumed with the season [the evidence of non-download also exists]” reads a press release.