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Actor Nayanthara has sparked a controversy with a scathing open letter, accusing producer and actor Dhanush of taking legal action against her and her husband, filmmaker Vignesh Shivan. The dispute centres around a three-second clip from Nayanthara’s 2015 film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, which was featured in the trailer for the couple’s upcoming Netflix documentary. Also read: Dhanush’s former co-stars Parvathy Thiruvothu, Anupama Parmeswaran, Nazriya extend support to Nayanthara’s open letter
Nayanthara alleges that Dhanush, who produced Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, has initiated legal proceedings against them for using the clip without permission. This development has led to a public feud between the parties involved, with many eager to understand the intricacies of the dispute.
We trace the whole feud to understand it better.
Nayanthara slams Dhanush
In the open letter, Nayanthara accused Dhanush of harbouring a personal grudge against her and her husband, filmmaker Vignesh Shivan. She mentioned that it was a ‘low’ move to demand ₹10 crore from them to use a three-second snippet of songs from Naanum Rowdy Dhaan.
A part of the letter read, “A well-established actor like you, with the support and blessings of your father and your brother, an ace director, needs to read and understand this. Cinema as we all know is a fight for survival for people like me: a self made woman with no links in the industry and someone who had to struggle my way to the position I hold today. I’d owe this to my work ethic that is no secret to all who know me but more importantly, to the goodwill of the audience and my film fraternity.” In a three-page open letter posted on her Instagram page, the Jawan actor slammed Dhanush for sending a legal notice demanding ₹10 crore in damages after the trailer of the documentary, titled “Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale”, was released online.
Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale
The documentary series gives a glimpse into the celebrated life of the actor, her journey to stardom and her choices in life and career. Nayanthara mentioned that the film played a crucial role in shaping up her career. Featuring accounts from friends and colleagues, including Rana Daggubati, Taapsee Pannu, and Nagarjuna Akkineni, as well as her family and husband, filmmaker Vignesh Shivan, the documentary promises to unmask her work ethic as an artist and her transformation as a daughter, sister, wife and mother. It is slated to release on Netflix.
Where did it start
The film which Nayanthara is talking about, holds a crucial place in her and her husband’s lives. It was on the sets of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan that the two fell in love. The 2015 film Naanum Rowdy Dhan is one of the most loved action rom-coms to date. The film was directed by Vignesh Shivan and produced by Dhanush. Nayanthara was the lead actor alongside Vijay Sethupathi.
When Nayanthara said Dhanush hated her performance
While receiving the Best Actress award at an award event in 2016 for Naanum Rowdy Dhaan at the award show, the actor said, “Dhanush absolutely hated her performance in Naanum Rowdy Dhaan” on stage and apologised to him. She said, “Thank you Dhanush for initiating NRD and I have to say I am sorry also. Dhanush absolutely hated my performance in Naanum Rowdy Dhaan. Sorry Dhanush for disappointing you with my performance. I’ll probably make it better next time,” she said on stage.
Nayanthara gets support
Nayanthara has received a lot of support from her fellow women in the industry, including Parvathy Thiruvothu, Shruti Haasan, Ekta Kapoor, Dia Mirza and Nazriya Nazim, among others. Dhanush’s co-star in Bharat Bala’s 2013 film Maryan, Parvathy Thiruvothu, reposted Nayanthara’s open letter on her Instagram Stories with namaste emoticons. The post was liked by Nazriya Fahadh, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Ekta Kapoor, and Shilpa Rao, and Uorfi Javed.
The clip in question
Nayanthara claimed that Dhanush had sent them a legal notice for having used a three-second-long behind-the-scenes video from the sets of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan. He holds the right to the project as he produced the film. In the clip, Vignesh is seen having a candid conversation with Nayanthara while shooting the project.
Dhanush’s lawyer reacts
Now, Dhanush’s lawyer has reacted to the stir by issuing a statement, which read, “My client is the producer of the film and they know where they have spent each penny for the production of the film and your client has stated that my client has not commissioned any person to shoot the behind the scenes footage and the said statement is baseless and your client is put to strict proof of the same”. Dhanush’s team stressed that the “behind the scenes footage belongs to my client as the producer of the film”. They have asked the docu-series team to take down the footage within 24 hours.
The documenatary is slated to premiere on Netflix on November 18.
