Today, On 27th November, Dhanush filed a legal suit against actress Nayanthara over the unauthorized use of visuals from the film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in the Netflix docu-drama Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale. The actor claims the footage was used without his consent, leading to the dispute. The case highlights issues surrounding intellectual property rights in the entertainment industry.
Wunderbar Films Private Limited, led by actor Dhanush K. Raja, filed a civil suit in the Madras High Court against actor Nayanthara Kurian, her director-husband Vignesh Sivan, Rowdy Pictures Private Limited, and two others.
The suit claims that they used specific visuals from the Tamil film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in the Netflix docu-drama Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale.
Read Also: Supreme Court Rejects Plea Against Dhanush’s Film Poster Showing Smoking
Given that Los Gatos Production Services India LLP, the entity through which Netflix manages its content investments in India, is based in Mumbai, Wunderbar Films has submitted an application requesting permission, under clause 12 of the Letters Patent, to include this company in the lawsuit within the jurisdiction of the Madras High Court.
The application, filed by advocates Gautam S. Raman and Maithreyi Canthaswamy Sharma, was scheduled for a hearing before Justice Abdul Quddhose on Wednesday, November 27, 2024. Senior counsel P.S. Raman, representing Wunderbar Films, urged the judge to grant the leave, while senior counsels Sathish Parasaran and R. Parthasarathy, representing Nayanthara and Netflix, opposed the request.
After considering the initial arguments from both sides, the judge approved the application to grant leave without commenting on the merits of the main case. The judge noted that Nayanthara, Sivan, and Rowdy Pictures are within the jurisdiction of the Madras High Court and that a significant part of the cause of action occurred in this area.
The dispute between Dhanush and Nayanthara became public just days before the release of her docu-drama on November 18. On November 16, Nayanthara posted an open letter to Dhanush on her X handle.
In the letter, she explained that she had requested a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from Wunderbar Films, the producers of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, to use certain songs, visual excerpts, and photographs in her docu-drama. She stated that her relationship with Vignesh Sivan developed during the filming of that movie. Nayanthara accused Dhanush of failing to provide the NOC despite two years of repeated requests.
Additionally, she alleged that Dhanush held a personal grudge against her and her husband, expressing her shock at receiving a legal notice from him demanding Rs. 10 crore in damages after the trailer for the docu-drama was released. According to her, the trailer included only three seconds of behind-the-scenes footage shot with personal devices during the Naanum Rowdy Dhaan shoot.