'Naanum Rowdy Dhaan' row: Actor-producer Dhanush sues Nayanthara over use of footage without nod

Chennai: Wunderbar Films owned by popular Tamil actor Dhanush K Raja has filed a civil suit against ‘Lady Superstar’ Nayanthara, her husband Vignesh Sivan, and their production company Rowdy Pictures Private Limited for using footage from the 2015 film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in the female actor’s documentary film without its permission.

Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale is a documentary on the life, acting career and the famous 2022 wedding of Nayantara with Shivan, a film director, which is being streamed on Netflix. The civil suit comes after Nayanthara, in an open letter, accused Dhanush, the producer, of harbouring “personal grudge” against her by pointing to his action of not permitting her to use clippings from the 2015 film in her documentary.

The film holds personal significance for both Nayantara and Shivan as their love blossomed on the sets of the movie and they used a 3-second behind the scene (BTS) footage of the film in the documentary despite Dhanush refusing permission. Before the documentary’s release, Dhanush sent a legal notice to Nayantara seeking Rs 10 crore in damages.

Wunderbar Films had moved an application under Clause 12 of the Letters Patent to sue Los Gatos Production Services India LLP, through which Netflix operates in India and based out of Mumbai, along with others within the territorial jurisdiction of the Madras High Court.

On Wednesday, the application came for hearing before Justice Abdul Quddhose who allowed the application to grant leave, though he didn’t comment on the merits of the civil suit.

In the suit, Dhanush sought a permanent injunction restraining Nayanthara and others from infringing the production house’s copyright over the movie, including its BTS footage. Contending that the copyright over any picture or video footage shot on the sets of the movie vest only with them, Dhanush said permission is required from him if anyone were to use such footage.

Dhanush’s contention is that the BTS footage was shot by persons engaged by the production house on “work-on-hire-basis” and that they own the copyright over all the artist' performance in the film.

Nayanthara, in the open letter released on November 16, alleged that the vengeance that Dhanush has been festering against the film, her, and her partner, doesn't “just affect us but the people who have given their effort and time towards this project.”

“This NetFlix Documentary about me, my life, my love and marriage includes clips of many of my industry well-wishers who have graciously contributed and memories from multiple films, but sadly does not include the most special and important film, Naanum Rowdy Dhaan,” Nayanthara had said.

The actor, who married Shivan in 2022 after dating him for over six years, said she has been waiting for two years for Dhanush’s approval for using songs, visual cuts, and photographs from the movie. Nayanthara said they insisted on using the songs from the movie as they believed there was no better music to use in the documentary.