By now, everyone is aware that Isaignani Ilaiyaraaja sent a legal notice to Mythri Movie Makers for the unauthorised use of his iconic compositions in their movie Good Bad Ugly, starring Ajith Kumar. The Madras High Court also issued an order, resulting in the film’s removal from Netflix India, leaving Ajith fans disappointed.
Nevertheless, audiences in the US and other countries can still watch the film, and when we checked, Good Bad Ugly is streaming on Netflix US. It will be interesting to see how the maestro reacts to this.
For the unversed, the makers of Good Bad Ugly used Ilaiyaraaja’s classic songs — “Otha Ruba Tharen” (Nattupura Pattu), “En Jodi Manja Kuruvi” (Vikram), and “Ilamai Idho Idho” (Sakalakala Vallavan) – without his approval, which understandably caused the composer distress.
There’s no clarity yet on when the movie will return to Netflix India. Meanwhile, this incident serves as a wake-up call for filmmakers to seek proper approval before using the works of legendary artists.