Nayanthara‘s Netflix documentary made waves both before and after its release, particularly when Dhanush issued a legal notice against the actress and her husband, Vignesh Shivan. He accused them of using clips from his 2014 film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan without permission. The documentary, titled Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale, traces the actress’s career, from her early roles to her recent success with Jawan. It includes clips from many of her films, spanning her entire career.
This issue escalated when Nayanthara shared a lengthy three-page statement and accused Dhanush of harbouring a grudge against the couple. Nearly two months later, the actress faced another legal trouble, this time from the makers of Chandramukhi.
According to Gulte, the makers of Chandramukhi have now sent a legal notice to Nayanthara, demanding Rs 5 crore for using a few seconds of footage from the 2005 film without authorisation.
Nayanthara, who made her debut in 2003 with the Malayalam film Manassinakkare and went on to star in films such as Vismayathumbathu and Natturajavu, ventured into Tamil cinema with Ayya in 2005, followed by her role in the iconic film Chandramukhi, which featured Rajinikanth and Jyotika.
ICYDK: After Dhanush’s legal notice, Nayanthara released a list thanking people who had supported her and granted NOCs (No Objection Certificates) for using clips from their movies.
The list included notable names such as Shah Rukh Khan and Chiranjeevi, as well as Chandramukhi producer Ramkumar Ganesan, who had produced the film under his banner, Sivaji Productions.
In November last year, Dhanush sent a legal notice to Nayanthara after the release of the trailer for her documentary, demanding Rs 10 crore for the use of a three-second BTS clip featuring Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan.
Nayanthara responded firmly to the legal notice, stating, “I am in receipt of your legal notice and we shall respond to it befittingly through lawful means. Your refusal to give NOC for the use of elements of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in our Netflix documentary might be justified by you from a copyright standpoint, but I wish to remind you that there is a moral side to it, which must be defended in the court of God.”
In her open letter, Nayanthara revealed that she and her team spent two years attempting to secure Dhanush’s permission to use footage from Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in the documentary. She expressed shock over receiving a legal notice after the release of the trailer, accusing her of using a mere three-second clip without permission.
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.”
Days after Nayanthara shared an open letter, Dhanush’s lawyer issued a statement and asked her to take down the content within 24 hours.
