The ongoing tiff between actors Dhanush and Nayanthara Kurian over use of visuals from the 2015 movie Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in the Netflix film 'Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale,' has taken a legal turn, with the actor's production house moving Madras High Court.
Naanum Rowdy Dhaan was produced by Dhanush under the banner of Wunderbar Films and Nayanthara was the female lead in the movie. The issue arises from the footage of a movie produced by Dhanush's production house starring Nayanthara. Clips from this movie has been allegedly used in the Netflix documentary about Nayanathara.
Dhanush's production house, Wunderbar Films, has moved court against Nayanthara Kurian and her husband Vignesh Sivan alleging copyright infringement, the Bar and Bench reported. Dhanush's production house Wunderbar Films has also sought the High Court’s permission to implead Netflix’s parent company Los Gatos Production Services India LLP in the suit, the report said.
Reportedly, the Madras High Court allowed Wunderbar’s application to implead Las Gatos after noting that other parties including Nayanthara, Sivan and Rowdy Pictures were located within the jurisdiction of the Madras High Court and a major part of the cause of action had arisen over there.
Nayanthara shared an open letter adressed to Dhanush on November 16, claiming on her social media handles that Dhanush was harbouring a personal grudge against her and her husband.
The Tamil film industry witnessed a heated exchange after actress Nayanthara penned an open letter accusing actor Dhanush of intentionally delaying the release of her much-anticipated 'Netflix' documentary. The documentary, which delves into Nayanthara’s life, career, and marriage, reportedly faced hurdles due to Dhanush's refusal to grant permissions for using content from the film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, a pivotal project in her career.
The actress said that she was shocked to receive a legal notice from Dhanush seeking damages of Rs 10 crore after the release of the Netflix documentary trailer about the actress in which three seconds of footage from behind the scene of movie Naanum Rowdy Dhaan had been used.
The actress also criticised the actor-producer for his alleged ego-driven disdain toward the success of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, a film she described as a blockbuster cherished by fans to this day. She referred to his behavior during award ceremonies in 2016 as evidence of his dissatisfaction with the film's acclaim.
Directed at Dhanush, Nayanthara said, "The world is a big place, it's meant for everyone. It's okay for people you know to come up in life. It's okay for normal people with no background in cinema to make it big. Search It's okay if some people make connections and are happy. It doesn't take away anything from you. it's only an ode to their work, blessings and people's kindness."