Rs 10-Crore Lawsuit Over 3-Second Clip? What’s Behind Nayanthara-Dhanush Spat
Dhanush has demanded Rs 10 crore in damages for allegedly using footage from a movie produced by him. Nayanthara responded with a scathing, three-page open letter.
An all-out war has broken out between south cinema superstars Nayanthara and Dhanush over a three-second clip in a Netflix documentary. While Dhanush demanded Rs 10 crore in damages for allegedly using footage from a movie produced by him, Nayanthara responded with a scathing, three-page open letter and said she was “startled” that he claimed such a massive sum for “mere three seconds” of clips allegedly shot on “personal devices”.
Rs 10 Crore Legal Notice
Dhanush sent the Rs 10-crore legal notice to the producers of the project after the trailer for ‘Jawan’ actor’s upcoming documentary – Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale – was released online last week. The documentary allegedly has footage from the 2015 Tamil movie ‘Naanum Rowdy Dhaan’. Nayanthara starred opposite Vijay Sethupathi in the movie which was produced by Dhanush’s Wunderbar Films. The romantic comedy was written and directed by Nayanthara’s husband and filmmaker Vignesh Shivan.
Nayanthara vs Dhanush controversy, and the viral open letter
Nayanthara claimed that Dhanush said “horrible things” about the film that was released nearly 10 years ago and that he continues to act “vile while wearing a mask in front of the world”.
“I learned through film circles that your ego was supremely hurt after the film became a blockbuster. Your displeasure over its success was perceptible even to the common man through award functions connected with this film (Filmfare 2016),” she said.
Urging Dhanush to watch the documentary, Nayanthara said, “It is important to #SpreadLove, and I hope and pray that someday you are also fully capable of doing it and not just saying it”.
Filmmaker Shivan has also stepped in to support his wife, sharing an old video of Dhanush on Instagram, where the actor spoke about positivity and the importance of living without hate.
The video clip, taken from the audio launch of the 2017 film Sakka Podu Podu Raja, shows Dhanush saying in Tamil, “The love we have for one should not turn into hate for another. If it changes, there is no meaning for that emotion. The world is going towards a pathetic condition. There is so much negativity. Nobody likes it if another person is doing good in life. Live and let live. Nobody should hate another person. If you like somebody, celebrate with them. If you don’t like somebody, just move on.”
The documentary is set to be released on November 18.
Dhanush’s former co-stars Parvathy Thiruvothu, Anupama Parmeswaran, Nazriya extend support to Nayanthara’s open letter
Among other actors who liked the actors’ post were
- Nazriya Fahadh (Dhanush’s co-star from R Velraj’s 2013 romantic comedy Naiyaandi),
- Aishwarya Lekshmi (his co-star in Karthik Subbaraj’s 2021 action thriller Jagame Thandhiram), and
- Gouri G Kishan (Dhanush’s co-star from Mari Selvaraj’s 2021 action flick Karnan).
Naanum Rowdy Dhaan film featured Nayanthara opposite Vijay Sethupathi. It was directed by Vignesh Shivan. Dhanush backed the film under Wunderbar Films banner in 2015.