Last year, the legal feud between Dhanush and Nayanthara over the usage of BTS clips in the documentary ‘Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale’ made headlines. Now, Dhanush is pursuing the main suit against the actress and her husband, Vignesh Sivan, instead of seeking interim relief. Dhanush’s production company, Wunderbar Films Private Limited has filed a civil suit seeking 1 crore in damages for alleged copyright infringement. The said BTS clip is from ‘Naanum Rowdy Dhaan’ which Dhanush produced. The legal affidavit also accuses director Vignesh Shivan of unprofessional conduct. He alleges that Sivan primarily focused on Nayanthara rather than the project.
This development comes after the Madras High Court decided to decline an interim injunction. The decision is based on the fact that the documentary already released on November 18, 2024. However, the court has agreed to hear the main suit on April 9, 2025.
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Live Law quoted the court’s decision. “It is common ground between the parties that the documentary has been exhibited since 18th November 2024. Without prejudice to the contentions raised in the interim application, the plaintiff is ready and willing to proceed with the suit on merits. Therefore, OA 958 of 2024 is closed without any orders.”
In the affidavit, Wunderbar also accuses Vignesh Sivan of unprofessionalism. “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 prioritising the other actors.”
The banner added, “In view of clause 4 of the artist agreement, the film producer 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 producer.”
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For the unversed, the issue came to light after Nayanthara penned an open letter to Dhanush, explaining the issue. Nayanthara revealed that Dhanush had slapped her and her husband Vignesh Sivan with a 10-crore lawsuit. The legal notice accused her of using a three-second BTS clip from ‘Naanum Rowdy Dhaan’ in her Netflix documentary. In her open letter, the actress revealed that they had filmed the BTS clip on their personal devices. Additionally, she stated that her team tried to obtain an NOC from Dhanush for 2 years but failed. Hence, they used the clip on their personal phone.
