Dhanush sues Nayanthara over copyright infringement

CHENNAI: Actor Dhanush has moved the Madras high court against actor Nayanthara and her husband and film director Vignesh Sivan for using video clips shot during the making of the Tamil movie "Naanum Rowdy Dhaan," produced by him, in a docudrama released by Netflix on the actress titled "Beyond the Fairytale."

Dhanush had earlier issued a legal notice to Nayanthara demanding Rs 10 crore for using the visuals to which he owns the copyright.

The civil suit by Dhanush’s film production company Wunderbar Films was filed against Los Gatos Production Services India LLP, a company based in Mumbai through which Netflix operates in India.

Since the company is based in Mumbai, Dhanush moved an application under Section 12 of the Letter Patent Act seeking to allow him to sue the company along with the other respondents before the Madras high court. When the plea came up for hearing, Justice Abdul Quddhose permitted the memo since a major part of the cause of action arose in Chennai.

Nayanthara sought a no-objection certificate from Dhanush's Wunderbar Films to use clippings from the movie in the documentary. However, even after repeated requests for over two years, Wunderbar Films allegedly denied this request. The clips were ultimately used in the documentary, prompting Dhanush to send a legal notice to the actress and others demanding damages to the tune of Rs 10 crore.


Dhanush moved the present suit alleging infringement of his copyrights over the video clippings used in the docudrama.