Actor Dhanush K. Raja’s Wunderbar Films has filed a civil suit in the Madras High Court against lady superstar Nayanthara Kurian, her husband Vignesh Shivan, his Rowdy Pictures Private Limited, Tarc Studios LLP and Los Gatos Production Services India LLP for using visuals from the film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in her Netflix documentary titled Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale.
In a separate application, Sreyas Srinivasan, the director of Wunderbar Films Private Ltd, has also pleaded the court to grant approval to sue Mumbai-based Los Gatos within the territorial jurisdiction of the Madras HC. Los Gatos is the unit of Netflix through which the OTT platform reports its content investment in India. The application was filed through advocates Gautam S. Raman, Maithreyi Canthaswamy Sharma and three others.
As the petition came up for hearing on Wednesday before Justice Abdul Quddhose. Dhanush’s Wunderbar Films represented by senior counsel P.S. Raman, sought the court’s permission to sue Netflix. Senior counsels Sathish Parasaran and R. Parthasarathy who represented Nayanthara and Netflix opposed it. The judge on hearing the matter, without commenting on the primary case, allowed the application for leave.
The legal dispute between Nayanthara and Dhanush came to light when the actress wrote an open letter accusing the actor-producer of sabotaging her Netflix documentary, saying he was holding “personal grudge” against her and her partner. The letter was posted on her official Instagram page a day before the release of her doc-drama in Netflix.
In the letter she said that she had sought a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Dhanush and his production house to use Behind The Scenes (BTS) visuals and some of the songs from Naanum Rowdy Dhaan for the docu-drama Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale. It was during the shoot of this 2015 film that both Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan came together and their love blossomed.
In the open letter she said that she would respond to Dhanush’s notice by legal means, which she is ought to do now after the actor-producer had approached the court. She also said that there is a “moral side” to their conflict and it will be “defended in the court of god”. She further alleged that Dhanush’s ego was hurt after Naanum Rowdy Dhaan became a super hit and that his displeasure over the film’s success was apparent.
The docu-drama released on Netflix on November 18 with three-second visuals from Naanum Rowdy Dhaan. In the affidavit filed before the Madras High Court, Sreyas Srinivasan said “to the utter shock and dismay” of Wunderbar Films, after nearly 10 years of the film being released and also the BTS visuals uploaded by the their official YouTube channel, Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan have included the BTS in the documentary.
“The use of the BTS in the documentary trailer which was released on 09.11.2024 without obtaining prior permission and consent of the applicant thereby grossly infringing upon the applicant’s copyrights,” he said.
The affidavit also noted that Nayanthara and Vignesh had replied to the legal notice through their counsel saying the BTS from from the film is not owned by Wunderbar Films as the same belonged to persons not commissioned by Dhanush to shoot the BTS footage and the same was personal in nature.
The Netflix docu-drama is a never seen before glimpse into the lady super star’s life, revealing about her family since her childhood, how she and her partner Vignesh Sivan got together and her journey in cinema.