Ajith Kumar’s latest film Good Bad Ugly has returned to Netflix after its removal following a Madras High Court order restraining the makers from using Ilaiyaraaja’s songs in the Adhik Ravichandran directorial. The new version of the film has replaced the composer's popular tracks 'Ilamai Idho Idho' and 'Oththa Roova' with the film's background music.
Many social media users noticed that Arjun Das' entry in Good Bad Ugly, which earlier had 'Oththa Roova' song, has now been replaced with the BGM of the film. Similarly, Ajith's fight sequence at a bar, which had 'Ilamai Idho Idho' song, has been removed and edited with Darkkey Nagaraja's 'Puli Puli'.
For the uninitiated, Good Bad Ugly featured three of Ilaiyaraaja's compositions – 'Oththa Roova' from Nattupura Pattu (1996), 'Ilamai Idho Idho' from Kamal Haasan's Sakalakala Vallavan (1982) and 'En Jodi Manja Kuruvi' from Vikram (1986).
The move comes months after Ilaiyaraaja's legal team sent a notice to Mythri Movie Makers banner for unauthorised usage of his songs in the film. He had demanded them to pay a sum of Rs 5 crore towards "unpaid royalties, damages, and legal costs" while tendering an "unconditional written apology" for using his work without consent.
Director Kasthuri Raja had also strongly raised his objections against the use of 'Oththa Roova', 'Panju Mittai', and 'Thoothuvalai Ilai Arachi' from his films without getting any prior permission. He also said that modern-day filmmakers appeared to depend on too much on nostalgia instead of their own creativity.
Good Bad Ugly was released theatrically on April 10. It later premiered on Netflix on May 8. The film also starred Trisha, Prasanna, Prabhu, and Sunil, among others. GV Prakash Kumar composed songs and background music for the film, while cinematography was handled by Abinandhan Ramanujam and editing was by Vijay Velukutty.
