BLACKPINK’s Jennie accused of ‘copy pasting’ Alia Bhatt’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani theme: She plagiarised Pritam

K pop sensation, Jennie, known for her association with the group BLACKPINK, recently announced her new song. The song – Like Jennie – will be releasing this Friday and a 9-second-long teaser was released on social media on Tuesday. The teaser was praised by fans of the singer but desi listeners were curious as it sounded almost exactly like Alia Bhatt‘s character Rani’s theme from Karan Johar’s 2023 hit Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.

Did Jennie copy Alia Bhatt’s theme?

Jennie’s song teaser features thumping beats and vocals chanting Jennie. The beat and flow is very similar to Rani’s theme from Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, a fact that was not lost on some fans. One tweeted Rani’s theme in response to Like Jennie teaser and wrote, “The copy paste (crying emoji) she’s shameless.” Another added, “This is the same song, even the vocals are similar.”

Many fans were disappointed that Jennie faced a plagiarism allegation over a song composed by Pritam, who has himself been at the receiving end of such allegations. “I cannot believe Jennie is plagiarising Pritam, out of all. Bollywood out of all,” read one tweet. Another K-pop fan tweeted, “#BLACKPINK’s Jennie copied the song Rani Anthem from the movie Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani, which has Indian artist Pritam’s credits, in a way that sounds no different.”

Not necessarily a copy, say fans

Some X (formerly Twitter) users were cautious, however. One wrote that the song being similar does not necessarily mean Jennie copied Pritam, as the latter may have sampled some old Korean song for Rani’s theme, something he has done in the past too.

One fan argued, “Pritam literally copied Pehli Nazar me note for note without any credits from a Korean song, probably did the same for this intro, sampled it, from another international song but didn’t legally give credits whereas Jennie will give sampling credits.”

About Jennie

Jennie Kim is a South Korean rapper, singer, and actor. She shot to fame in 2016 as a member of the Korean girl band BLACKPINK, who are described as one of the most influential musical groups in the world. In 2018, she went solo with her debut single, Solo. Since then, Jennie has made music with the band as well as on her own. She made her acting debut in 2023 under the stage name Jennie Ruby Jane in the TV show The Idol.