Amidst the Rangabati song controversy, critically acclaimed “I am Kalam” director Nila Madhab Panda has announced his new film release “Kaun Kitney Paani Mein” on August 28 where he has used the Rangabati song in Hindi.It is the first Hindi film ever set in the background of western Odisha. The director clarified that he has all the requisite permissions for using the song.Rangabati was recently performed in MTV’s Coke Studio by composer Ram Sampat and singers Sona Mahapatra and Rituraj Mohanty. These musicians have got a legal notice by the copyright holders of the original song, lyricist Mitrabhanu Gauntia and music director Prabhudutta Pradhan, with a demand of Rs1crore compensation for copyrights infringement.
Panda stated that he has taken written permission from the lyricist and the music director of the song and since he belongs to the same region of Odisha, he wanted to give a tribute to the land. He said, “I am very proud of bringing my own soil through this song to Hindi cinema, also I kept the basic rhythm and its essence." He further added that he hopes the dispute between the singers and original composers of the song will get solved amicably soon.Starring Kunal Kapoor, Radhika Apte, Gulshan Grover and Saurabh Shukla, the film was screened recently as closing film of Jagran film festival, with a standing ovation. The film has been produced by One Drop Foundation, Montreal.