A still from Naanum Rowdy Dhaan movie
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Justice Abdul Quddhose decided to hear the application for interim injunction after all the respondents filed their replies.
| Photo Credit:
FILE PHOTO
The Madras High Court on Thursday granted time till January 8 for actor Nayanthara, her director husband Vignesh Sivan and Netflix to respond to a case filed by actor Dhanush K. Raja’s Wunderbar Films Private Limited to restrain them from using any kind of visuals related to the movie Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in a docu-drama titled Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale.
Justice Abdul Quddhose decided to hear the application for interim injunction after all the respondents filed their replies. He heard preliminary submissions made by senior counsel P.S. Raman for Wunderbar and Rahul Balaji for Netflix before directing the Registry to list the injunction application along with a reject-the-plaint application, filed by Netflix, after the Christmas vacation.
The applications had been filed as part of a civil suit preferred by Wunderbar seeking a permanent injunction restraining the defendants from infringing its copyright over the 2015 flick Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, by including its behind-the-scene (BTS) footage or any other footage connected to the movie or its making thereof in the Netflix docu-drama related to Ms. Nayanthara’s career.
In the suit, instituted through its counsel on record Gautam S. Raman and Maithreyi Canthaswamy Sharma, Wunderbar had also sought damages of ₹1 crore from the defendants. Apart from the main relief, it had taken out an application seeking an interim injunction too on the ground that irreaparable loss would be caused to the production house if the contentious footage was continued to be used in the docu-drama.
Filing an affidavit on behalf of Wunderbar, its director Shreya Srinivasan said, the company was founded by Mr. Dhanush and his former wife Aishwarya Rajnikanth in 2010. It had produced many critically acclaimed as well as commercially successful movies, including Naanum Rowdy Dhaan which was directed by Mr. Sivan. He said, Ms. Nayanthara had signed an artist’s agreement on August 27, 2014 for acting as the female lead.
“In view of clause 4 of the artist agreement, the applicant owns the copyright over all the artists performance in connection with the cinematograph film meaning thereby that if any picture or video of the artist is captured as long as they are in their character on the set of the cinematograph film, the copyright over the same vests only with the applicant,” Wunderbar asserted.
Unprofessional manner
The production house went on to accuse Ms. Nayanthara and Mr. Sivan of having “behaved in a highly unprofessional manner” during the shooting of the movie and claimed that it adversely affected the budget which was originally fixed at just ₹4 crore. It said that both of them would often arrive late to the film set thereby delaying the shooting schedule.
“The fourth respondent (Mr. Sivan) unnecessarily began focusing his attention only on the third respondent (Ms. Nayanthara) ignoring the other cast and crew of the movie by taking multiple re-takes of scenes which involved the third respondent in order to make sure that only she gives her best performance and not prioritizing the other actors,” the affidavit of Wunderbar read.
The production house stated that Naanum Rowdy Dhaan would have turned out to be a highly profitable venture if it had been completed by the director within the initial estimated budget of ₹4 crore. Despite the movie doing well in the box office, Wunderbar was able to barely earn some profits because of the increase in expenditure, Mr. Shreyas complained.
Citing the love that had blossomed between Mr. Sivan and Ms. Nayanthara during the shooting of the movie as a reason for the inflated budget, the applicant firm said: “rather than being apologetic, the third and fourth respondents became belligerent and their relationship with the applicant’s director soured.”
Mr. Srinivasan also told the court that Mr. Shivan called him in November 2024 seeking a no objection certificate for using footages from the movie in the docu-drama and insisted that it be given without the knowledge of Mr. Dhanush. “I found this strange and informed him that I cannot keep secrets from the applicant’s Managing Director… To my shock the fourth respondent abused me and cut the call,” he added.
However, without obtaining any permission, the actor-director couple had used BTS footage in the docu-drama released on Netflix in November this year, he complained.
Published – December 12, 2024 01:49 pm IST
