Legendary music director Ilaiyaraaja is known for litigating filmmakers when they use his compositions in their films without his permission. In one such case, the Madras High Court has banned the use of one of the composer's compositions in GV Prakash's latest theatrical outing, Happy Raj.
Previously, Ilaiyaraaja had filed cases against the makers of Good Bad Ugly and Dude, both produced by Mythiri Movie Makers, for using his songs in the films without permission. The case came to an end only after the makers went in for a settlement. Even before these cases, Ilaiyaraaja first filed a case against the makers of Manjummel Boys for the usage of 'Kanmani Anbodu' from Guna without his permission.
In Happy Raj, 'Podhuvaga En Manasu Thangam' from Rajinikanth's Murattu Kalai has been used. Ilaiyaraaja had moved the Madras High Court against the use of the song in the film, alleging that it had been used without his permission. In his petition, he sought an injunction restraining the filmmakers from using the song and also requested that it be removed from the film.
When the matter came up for hearing before Justice M Kumaresh Babu, advocate A. Saravanan, appearing for Ilaiyaraaja, argued that the song had been used without the composer's consent, in violation of copyright law. He further contended that the track had been altered from its original form and urged the court to prohibit its use in the film.
Hearing the matter, the court ordered an interim injunction restraining the makers of Happy Raj from using the song in the film. The judge also directed the film’s director and producer to file their responses in the case. While the film is now available to stream on Prime Video, it is expected that the OTT version will play without the song.
Interestingly, this comes after Ilaiyaraaja faced a legal setback after the Delhi High Court restrained the composer from broadcasting songs from 134 films whose audio rights are owned by music label Saregama. The order covering 134 films includes some featuring Ilaiyaraaja’s finest works, such as Annakili (1976), 16 Vayathinile (1977), Mullum Malarum (1978), Netrikkann (1981), and Raaja Paarvai (1981).