BlackPink's Jennie Accused of Copying Bollywood Song for New Hit And Other Times the Group Faced Plagiarism Claims

BlackPink's Jennie has found herself in the middle of a fresh controversy following the release of her new single, 'Like Jennie.' The song, which was released on 7 March, sparked an online debate after some social media users noticed similarities between Jennie's track and a popular Bollywood song.

Bollywood fans pointed out that the intro theme of Jennie's song strikingly resembles the introduction song of Indian actress Alia Bhatt's character, Rani, from the 2023 film 'Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani.' Fans alleged that the instrumental portion of Jennie's track was copied from the Bollywood song.

On 4 March, Jennie dropped the teaser of her new hit, which was soon followed by social media users' comparisons, shaping a new controversy.

What is the Controversy?

Once the teaser of the song was out, videos comparing the two songs side by side started circulating online. The main focus was on the phrasing and melody of both tracks, particularly when Jennie's name is repeated in her song, mirroring the iconic 'Rani's Entrance' music.

While some fans believe that it's a case of pure coincidence, others do not support giving Jennie the benefit of the doubt.

A user on X, accusing Jennie of plagiarism, wrote, 'Some unknown K-pop artist named Jennie Kim is copying Indian songs now, she thought we wouldn't find out, but we did.' While another user came into her defence saying, 'Jennie did not plagiarise the song at all. She repeated her name, and so did the other artist.'

In another interesting event, Prime Video India, in a now-deleted post, allegedly tried to throw some shade at Jennie. The Indian account for Prime Video on X shared a still of Alia Bhatt's character, Rani, from her film Rocky and Rani Kii Prem Kahani. They captioned it, 'BLACKPINK fans, we bet you can hear this image.' The image shows Bhatt's character looking into the camera and smirking.

The post was taken down after Blinks, the name of Blackpink's fandom, started online bashing of Prime Video India with messages saying, 'APOLOGIES TO JENNIE / BOYCOTT PRIME VIDEO INDIA.'

Pritam Defends Jennie

Despite the uproar, Jennie has yet to respond publicly to the allegations. However, Pritam Chakraborty, the composer of the Bollywood track, has come to her defence. Interestingly, Pritam, who has faced plagiarism claims in the past, called for a more positive approach to discussing music.

In an Instagram post, he said that such minor similarities in music are inevitable and should not be viewed as intentional copying. 'Rani and Jennie are names that rhyme, so a similar flow in one phrase doesn't make it a copy,' he wrote, adding that artists often share creative ideas, and coincidences in music are bound to occur, especially in an interconnected world. 'Music is about creativity, unique artistic perspective, influence, and sometimes pure coincidence.'

Not the First Time BlackPink Faces Accusations

Notably, this is not the first time that BlackPink has faced accusations of plagiarism.

Back in 2024, Lisa, another member of the group, had to face allegations of copying a visual concept from Travis Scott's FE!N music video. Cinematographer of the video, Gabriel Moses claimed that a specific shot in Lisa's 'Rockstar' video was strikingly similar to one in FE!N. This led to a widespread discussion amongst the fans and other social media users about whether Lisa imitated Scott's video or was inspired.

In a similar vein, social media users criticized Rosé and Bruno Mars for their collaboration on their hit song APT, comparing it to an unreleased song by American musician Poppy. These instances have added to the growing list of plagiarism allegations that have followed the group throughout their career.