To the surprise of fans of Tamil films, Ajith Kumar’s action movie, Good Bad Ugly, has been pulled from Netflix with immediate effect just four months after its online release. The film vanished from the popular platform following a legal battle regarding unauthorised music use by veteran composer Ilaiyaraaja. The removal came after the issue of a court order, which has cast a spanner in the works for the producers of the film as well as its ardent fan base.
The controversy started when Ilaiyaraaja filed a copyright violation case against Mythri Movie Makers, the producers of the movie. The composer claimed that three of his classic songs—Ottha Ruba Tharen, En Jodi Manja Kuruvi and Ilamai Idho Idho—were used in the movie without his permission or a fair royalty settlement. Ilaiyaraaja had first requested a compensation of ₹5 crore and an official apology from the producers, but when his demands went unheeded, he took up the case in court.
On September 17, Justice N Senthilkumar from the Madras High Court delivered a ruling restraining the producers from releasing the film with the disputed music tracks. This decision pushed Netflix’s hand into taking the movie off the streaming site in India outright. Although Netflix has not released a formal statement, the move is an overt reaction to the court’s ruling. It is not the first time that Ilaiyaraaja has gone legal over copyright violation; he had earlier given a similar notice to the producers of the Malayalam movie, Manjummel Boys.
Even with the legal issues, which are denied by producers, Good Bad Ugly has been a commercial hit, and it is said to have grossed more than ₹248 crore across the globe since its general release on April 10. Directed by Aadhik Ravichandran, the movie features Ajith Kumar along with Trisha Krishnan, Arjun Das, Prabhu, Prasanna and Jackie Shroff. Its withdrawal from Netflix is a telling milestone in the struggle for intellectual property rights in India’s film industry. It is a harsh reminder of the value of ensuring proper authorisation where creative works are involved.
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