Recently, Ajith Kumar’s movie Good Bad Ugly was removed from Netflix due to Ilaiyaraaja’s legal action over the unauthorised use of his compositions. Now, the maestro strikes again, and this time the film in hot water is Dude.
The youthful romantic drama Dude, starring Pradeep Ranganathan and Mamitha Baiju, has been released and is on the verge of crossing Rs. 100 crore in global gross. Isaignani Ilaiyaraaja has filed a case against the music label Sony Music India for using his popular songs—“Karutha Machan” from the 1991 Tamil film Pudhu Nellu Pudhu Naathu and another—without proper authorisation.
Reports say the makers obtained licenses for the use of the songs and paid around Rs. 15–20 lakh for the two tracks, but Ilaiyaraaja’s team considers this unauthorised since Sony lacked his approval for moral rights.
Mythri Movie Makers is the banner behind both Good Bad Ugly and Dude, and it remains to be seen how they will respond.