Jennie vs Alia Bhatt: BLACKPINK’s Past Indian Cultural Controversies

As it appears, BLACKPINK rapper Jennie can hardly escape scandals. Currently, she is embroiled in controversy with Indian fans for reasons that are less than admirable. Recently, BLACKPINK’s Jennie shared a teaser for her new song ‘Like Jennie’ on social media, but it appears as though fans were left more fascinated with its resemblance to Alia Bhatt's introduction song, Rani, from the film Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.

Multiple people claimed that the snippet Jennie shared sounded very much like the theme by Indian composer Pritam. But, what started as a disagreement over music turned into a mess where BLINKs put the combative alterations too far by resorting to racist insults against Alia Bhatt. While some proclaimed that Jennie is a ‘global superstar’ and cannot draw inspiration from an Indian song, others followed by referring to the Indian subcontinent as ‘dirty’ to argue that Alia is only famous in India.

BLINK’s controversies due to Indian culture appreciation  

This isn’t the first time an Indian cultural element has been the source of controversy for BLACKPINK.

Controversy Regarding Jennie’s Mantra: The title song of her album had already received negative criticism because of issues of cultural appropriation. It was noted by many that “mantra,” which is Sanskrit, means a tool for the mind and captures emotion. Most of the people who came in her defense argued that she doesn’t use the word in the song, but instead, the word becomes part of the song. They noted that the word mantra is not used properly and needs the appropriate context to be understood.

Ganesha Idol Underneath Lisa’s Foot: In the 2020 music video for How You Like That, quite a number of people pointed out that an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh was put on the ground next to Lisa in her foot throne while she was rapping. After public outrage about the disrespect come being Ganesha, the video was changed to take out the eater for the god. The situation went from bad to worse when Lisa also got slammed for wearing an outer garment with a picture of some god from India on it.

Wearing Bindis and Indian Ornaments: In the music video for Kill This Love, the members of BLACKPINK were spotted with bhindi's and maang tikkas. Because of the heavy importance of culture, religion, and these ornaments in India, fans bashed the group for appropriation and claimed that it was insulting to wear these objects only in the name of fashion.

Mocking Bharatanatyam: Both Jennie and Rosé were said to have mocked Bharatanatyam, an Indian classical dance, in the footage for the Kill This Love music video. Many followers perceived their acting as offensive and showing a lack of appreciation for culture.

Stereotyping Indian dance moves: During an appearance on the Korean variety show Knowing Bros, BLACKPINK was also seen doing a dance to a Punjabi hit, Tunak Tunak tun. However, their hand moves in conjunction with exaggerated headbanging were over the top and proof of the ridicule of Indian culture. A lot of Indian admirers were annoyed because their culture was made to look foolish.

About Jennie's solo album Ruby: Jennie is releasing her debut studio album Ruby in March 7, 2025 under her label Odd Atelier in collaboration with Columbia Records. This will be her first independent project following her departure from YG Entertainment in 2023. The album will feature 15 songs, including those with Childish Gambino, Doechii, Dominic Fike, Dua Lipa, and Kali Uchis. She already released three singles. Mantra, Love Hangover with Dominic Fike, and ExtraL with Grammy-winning rapper Doechii. The next single is expected to be Like Jennie, which follows the expected order of release.

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