Nayanthara has openly called out Dhanush for sending her a legal notice of Rs 10 crore over the use of footage from the film ‘Naanum Rowdy Dhaan’ in her Netflix documentary. The ‘Jawan’ star penned a long letter on Instagram and also tagged Dhanush in her post. She expressed her anger over the legal notice and questioned his decision.
The actress wrote in her letter, “This is an open letter to you in order to set several wrong things right. A well-established actor like you, with the support and blessings of your father and your brother, an ace director, needs to read and understand this. Cinema as we all know is a fight for survival for people like me: a self made woman with no links in the industry and someone who had to struggle my way to the position I hold today. I’d owe this to my work ethic that is no secret to all who know me but more importantly, to the goodwill of the audience and my film fraternity. The release of my Netflix documentary has been much awaited by not just me but so many of my fans and well wishers. It took a whole team of collaborators and film friends to pull together the project through all the difficulties that were thrown at us.”
She added, “The vengeance that you have been festering against the film, my partner and I, 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. After two long years of battling it out with you for an NOC (No Objection Certificate) and waiting for your approval for our NetFlix documentary release, we finally decided to give up, re-edit and settle for the current version since you declined to permit the usage of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan songs or visual cuts, even the photographs to say the least despite multiple requests. The songs of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan are appreciated till date because the lyrics came from true emotions, knowing that there’s no better music that we could use in our documentary, your refusal to give us the opportunity to use it, or even just lyrics from the songs, broke my heart.”
While further talking about the legal notice, Nayanthara wrote, “What’s even more shocking is your legal notice after the release of the trailer of the Netflix Documentary. We were startled to read those lines wherein you questioned the usage of some videos (just 3 seconds) which were shot in our personal devices and that too BTS visuals that are already very much publicly present on social media and claimed a sum of Rs.10 crores as damages for the mere 3 seconds. This is an all time low from you and speaks so much about your character. I wish you were half the person you portray to be on stage in audio launches in front of your innocent fans but clearly you do not practice what you preach, at least not for me and my partner.”
She called out Dhanush’s decision to send notice and added, “Does a Producer become an Emperor controlling the lives, freedom and liberty of all the persons in the set? Any deviation from the Emperor’s dictum attracts legal ramifications? I am in receipt of your legal notice and we shall respond to it befittingly through lawful means. Your refusal to give NOC for use of elements of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan for our Netflix documentary might be justified by you to the Courts from copyright angle but I wish to remind you that there is a moral side to it, which has to be defended in the court of God.”
She further said, “You may fabricate some fake story and pack it with punch lines and deliver it in your next audio launch too but god is watching. I wish to introduce a German word into your vocabulary, “schadenfreude” and ensure that you don’t taste that emotion with us or anyone anymore.”
