It’s not very often that you see two A-list actors, publicly at loggerheads with one another. Of course there are rivalries, blinds, gossip and the occasional legal notice that makes the news, but for the most part, both or all parties involved, maintain the illusion of privacy. But Nayanthara is more than happy to change the precedent. And Dhanush is in the line of fire.
Earlier today, the ‘Lady Superstar’ took to her social media handles to share an very detailed open letter spanning 3 pages, directed at Dhanush. Long story short, the bone of contention is the former’s Netflix documentary Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale. The production has been in the making for quite some time, and as has now been confirmed via the open letter, was also entrenched in consistent legal back and forth — and Dhanush is to thank for that. This is where the second most important title in this soup comes up, 2015 Tamil release Naanum Rowdy Dhaan. Directed by Vignesh Shivan, produced by Dhanush and starring Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupathi, the film went onto become a massive blockbuster on its release. Some heartening trivia for you — it was the sets of this very film which sparked a romance between Nayanthara and Vignesh, who are now happily married and parents to their twin boys, Uyir and Ulag. For obvious reasons, having footage, stills and music from the film, feature in the documentary was of paramount importance to Nayanthara, both from the perspective of sentimentality as well as effective storytelling.
In the actor’s own words, while several of her ‘film friends’ have selflessly allowed such similar content from other productions to be featured in the documentary, not to mention, stepping in for sit-downs themselves to feature in it, obtaining a no objection certificate (NOC) from Dhanush was reportedly a 2-year long legal battle. Nayanthara’s letter went on to elaborate how when the couple finally made peace with the fact that they would not be able to feature any trace of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan — mind you, the film that brought them together — and approved the final cut of the documentary without it, somehow, more hell broke lose. In the trailer for the documentary which was released a week back, a 3-second clip from the sets of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan has been featured — BTS footage shot on the couple’s private devices — to which Dhanush has taken immense offence, enough to send the actor’s team a legal notice claiming damages worth ₹10 crores.
Nayanthara’s letter elaborated that while she of course understands things are very black and white when it comes to copyright issues and legal notices, in her eyes Dhanush is losing the battle in the ‘court of God’ on moral grounds, or lack thereof. And while the copyright issue will be dealt with within legal bounds, she used the opportunity to raise some pertinent questions, spanning from why a producer gets to act like the ’emperor’ of a set including every individual that toils on it as well as the whole insider-outsider dynamic with Dhanush very much belonging to the former category. The letter concludes with a word to the wise, about how seeing other people grow or be happy does in no way diminish one’s own happiness.
Whose side are you on in this feud?
