Actor Dhanush has sued actor Nayanthara and her husband director Vignesh Shivan over copyright issues, pertaining to certain visuals used in their recently released Netflix docu-drama Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale. Dhanush moved a civil petition at the Madras High Court on Wednesday, November 27, through his production house Wunderbar Films Private Limited. The suit is against Tarc Studios LLP (which produced the documentary in collaboration with Netflix), Rowdy Pictures Private Limited Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan and Los Gatos Production Services India LLP, the entity which handles Netflix's investments in India.
Since Las Gatos is based out of Mumbai in Maharashtra, Wunderbar Films has sought the court’s permission to sue the company along with the others, within the jurisdiction of the Madras High Court. According to a The Hindu report, the court granted permission observing that the site of dispute is located within its jurisdiction. The case came up for hearing before Justice Abdul Quddhose.
The issue is over the usage of Behind The Scenes (BTS) visuals taken on the sets of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, in the docu-drama. The film was produced by Dhanush’s Wunderbar Films and starred Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupathi. The film was directed by Vignesh Shivan and since the couple met on the sets of this movie, it features prominently in the Netflix drama.
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Two days before the release of the docu-drama on Netflix, Nayanthara made the issue public on November 16. In an open letter, she alleged that Dhanush “festered vengeance” against her, Vignesh Shivan and the film for the past decade.
Calling Dhanush a tyrant, she asked if a producer “becomes an emperor, controlling the lives, freedom, and liberty of all the persons in the set.” She alleged that Dhanush refused to grant a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to use music, or even photographs from the film in her docu-drama, and added that they settled for a re-edited different version of the film, after two years of back and forth. She added that Dhanush served her with a legal notice, claiming Rs 10 crore as damages for using a 3-second Behind The Scenes (BTS) visual.
