MY KOLKATA EDUGRAPH
ADVERTISEMENT
regular-article-logo Thursday, 05 December 2024

Skyshock: BJP ‘Bonds’ with West over Adele's 'Skyfall' to celebrate Diwali

Party IT head Amit Malviya was yet to respond to this newspaper’s queries on the choice of the song, and on whether the BJP has the licence to use it

Pheroze L. Vincent New Delhi Published 02.11.24, 06:01 AM
A poster of Skyfall

A poster of Skyfall Sourced by The Telegraph

This is the end. Hold your breath and count to ten. The BJP, whose 2009 poll manifesto in Haryana promised to ban Western music for its "vulgarity", has borrowed a James Bond tune to mark Diwali.

A video tweeted by the party on Thursday to celebrate the festival features a montage of still and moving pictures of the Babri Masjid and the Ram temple that has replaced it.

ADVERTISEMENT

The soundtrack is from the 2012 Bond film Skyfall, sung by British artiste Adele, with the lyrics appearing as subtitles in the video, starting with "This is the end/ Hold your breath…."

Party IT head Amit Malviya was yet to respond to this newspaper’s queries on the choice of the song, and on whether the BJP has the licence to use it.

Adele is a surprise pick for a party that tilts to the Right, and whose government has made "Make in India" a policy thrust.

A supporter of her country’s Labour Party, Adele had denied 2016 US presidential candidate Donald Trump the use of her songs after Skyfall and Rolling in the Deep were used in rallies of his Republican Party. She later endorsed Trump’s rival Hillary Clinton, who lost.

The BJP video extensively shows Narenda Modi — agitating for the Ram temple to be built as a BJP activist, and inaugurating the temple as Prime Minister this year.

Modi shares a personal rapport with Trump. The Republican Party is part of the global Centre-Right alliance, the International Democracy Union (IDU). The BJP participates in the IDU’s youth wing, the International Young Democrat Union, where the party’s representative holds the post of treasurer.

The song uses the metaphor "Skyfall" for adversity and celebrates love and unity that can overcome it.

In the BJP video, visuals of the Babri Masjid's demolition in 1992 are accompanied with the lyrics: "I've drowned and dreamt this moment."

As Modi is shown walking into the new temple last January, the lyrics say: "We will stand tall."

Mumbai-based intellectual property rights lawyer Rafael Pereira said: "Even if not a business, a creator needs permission from the copyright owner…. Even if used in public service messages, you need the consent of the owner. The only exceptions are those (relating to certain kinds of limited use) in Section 52 of the Copyright Act, 1957."

Adele couldn't be reached for comment. Content creators, including political parties in India, routinely use music tracks, rarely with permission.

Follow us on:
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT