Nayanthara slams Dhanush for hindering OTT docu: ‘An all-time low for you’

HINDUSTAN TIMES (November 17, 2024)

Actor Nayanthara has lashed out at actor-producer Dhanush for not allowing her to use footage from her Tamil film, Naanum Rowdy Dhaan (NRD; 2015), which was produced by him. Nayanthara wanted to use its footage in her OTT documentary, Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairytale. NRD is written and directed by Vignesh Shivan, Nayanthara’s husband.

Taking to Instagram, she also called out ‘vile’ Dhanush for sending her a legal notice demanding ₹10 crore. She said that “a well-established actor” like Dhanush, who has the support of his father (director Kasthuri Raja) and brother (actor-director-writer Selvaraghavan), needs to understand that cinema “is a fight for survival for people like” her, “a self-made woman with no links in the industry.”

Nayanthara added that 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”. She said that she had to “re-edit and settle for the current version” of her documentary after waiting for two years as Dhanush “declined to permit the usage of the film songs or visual cuts, even the photographs”.

Calling Dhanush’s legal notice “shocking”, she wrote: “...you questioned the usage of some videos (just 3 seconds) which were shot in our personal devices and that too, BTS visuals publicly present on social media...”

The actor further said, “This is an all-time low from you and speaks so much about your character.” She tagged Dhanush. We reached out to Dhanush, but he was not available till the time of going to press.
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HINDUSTAN TIMES (November 17, 2024)

Actor-producer Dhanush has responded to actor Nayanthara’s open letter against him, threatening a bigger lawsuit if she doesn’t take down the three-second footage of the Tamil film, Naanum Rowdy Dhaan (2015), which has been used in her OTT documentary.

According to Pinkvilla, the notice sent by Dhanush’s lawyer reads: “My client is the producer of the film and they know where they have spent each penny for the production of the film and your client has stated that my client has not commissioned any person to shoot the behind the scenes footage and the said statement is baseless and your client is put to strict proof of the same.”

It further reads, “Advice your client to take down the content infringing my client’s copyright over the film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan by using the same in your client’s documentary named Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairytale within 24 hours failing which my client will be forced to initiate appropriate legal action including but not limited to seek damages to a sum of ₹10 crore against your client and Netflix India.”

In an open letter on Saturday, Nayanthara had lashed out at Dhanush for demanding ₹10 crore for using the footage. Later, some former female co-stars of Dhanush, including Nazriya Fahadh, Shruti Haasan, Aishwarya Rajesh, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Gouri G Kishan and Anupama Parameswaran, extended their support to her.