If fines and jail time from breaking COVID-19 quarantine are not enough to scare you from going out, the Jaipur Police’s latest measures might.

In a recent statement by the police department on twitter, people who flout the rules face the grim punishment of listening to Tanishk Bagchi’s ‘Masakali 2.0’ on loop.

मत उडियो, तू डरियो
ना कर मनमानी, मनमानी
घर में ही रहियो
ना कर नादानी

ऐ मसक्कली, मसक्कली#StayAtHome #JaipurPolice #TanishkBagchi #Masakali2 #ARRahman @arrahman @juniorbachchan @sonamakapoor @RakeyshOmMehra pic.twitter.com/lYJzXvD8i4

— Jaipur Police (@jaipur_police) April 9, 2020
 

Hear the song that’s good enough to be qualified as torture: 

'Masakali 2.0', sung by Tulsi Kumar and Sachet Tandon, is the recreation of 'Masakali' from Bollywood Indian musical drama Delhi-6 which was released in 2011. The remake has quickly courted controversy for sounding nothing like the original while riding on its name and popularity to court listenership.

Talents involved in the original including Mohit Chauhan and Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman have been vocal in their criticism. In a veiled tweet, Rahman was vocal about the effort put in for his song, urging followers to listen to the original. His response has gone viral and stirred a wide response from India Media outlets. The Indian public have also chimed in with generally negative comments toward the producers, singers and cast involved in 2.0.
 

Enjoy the original #Masakali https://t.co/WSKkFZEMB4@RakeyshOmMehra @prasoonjoshi_ @_MohitChauhan pic.twitter.com/9aigZaW2Ac

— A.R.Rahman (@arrahman) April 8, 2020

Masakali 2.0 YouTube comments

Numbers wise, the creators of 'Masakali 2.0' are having the last laugh. With the song hitting 30 million views in 12 days of release, surpassing the original which had 25 million in 9 years.

See the original: 

In a huge industry which produces more films than Hollywood per year, this issue brings up deeper questions of copyright boundaries and what qualifies as a remake, especially if the title rides on the original track. For now, it’s probably not enough to put the producers in jail, but Indian police deem it to be grave enough to be used as punishment.  

Imagine the Singapore Police Force emulating their Indian counterparts and forcing law-breakers to listen to Phua Chu Kang’s ‘Singapore Be Steady!’ on repeat. Or the Vietnam National Police blasting COVID-19 parody 'Ghen Cô Vy' ('Washing hand song'). Now that’s a truly terrifying thought.

Original Vietnamese parody by Min, Erik and Khac Hung​​​

Here's the English translation

Stay clean and healthy, everyone!

Title image credit: Jaipur Police