Music composer R. Ilaiyaraaja’s identify has been faraway from all promotional supplies associated to the Tamil film Mrs. and Mr., Vanitha Movie Productions knowledgeable the Madras Excessive Court docket on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. The transfer got here following a civil swimsuit filed by the maestro to restrain the producers from exploiting his persona rights for the movie’s promotion.
Through the listening to, the courtroom recorded the submission by Sridhar Moorthy, counsel for Vanitha Movie Productions, that Ilaiyaraaja’s identify had been faraway from the promotional content material posted on Instagram and different platforms. In keeping with The Hindu, Ilaiyaraaja’s counsel, A. Saravanan, argued that utilizing the composer’s identify within the movie’s ads was a transparent case of misrepresentation since Ilaiyaraaja was not related to the movie’s music composition.
Ilaiyaraaja’s Information Civil Go well with Towards Mrs. and Mr.
The problem arose as a result of the producers had used one in every of Ilaiyaraaja’s iconic songs, “Sivarathri,” initially composed for the 1990 Kamal Haasan movie Michael Madana Kama Rajan, in Mrs. and Mr. with out his permission. The promotional supplies not solely credited him but additionally implied that Ilaiyaraaja was the music composer for the brand new film, which was deceptive to the general public. Ilaiyaraaja sought a courtroom order for the instant removing of the music from the movie, a everlasting injunction stopping using his persona rights in promotion, and disclosure of any income created from exploiting his identify and work.
The composer submitted two interim functions together with the primary lawsuit, with one requesting the removing of the music from the movie, and the opposite in search of a prohibition on screening, distributing, or broadcasting the film that includes the contested music.
Mrs. and Mr. Makers Reply
In response, Vanitha Movie Productions identified that Ilaiyaraaja had incorrectly named Vanitha Vijayakumar because the movie’s producer in his swimsuit, whereas promotional supplies checklist Jovika Vijayakumar because the precise producer. Moreover, the manufacturing counsel said that Sony Music Leisure, which holds the rights to the music “Sivarathri,” must be included as a defendant within the case. In keeping with The Information Minute, their authorized counsel stated that Sony Music holds the rights to over 4,850 Ilaiyaraaja compositions, together with Sivarathri.
The courtroom granted Ilaiyaraaja time till August 18, 2025, to amend the case title and embrace Sony Music as a celebration.
This petition is the newest in a string of authorized actions initiated by the legendary music composer. Ilaiyaraaja had issued related injunction notices to the producers of the Rajinikanth starrer Coolie (2025), Good Unhealthy Ugly (2025), and Manjummel Boys (2024) for the unauthorized use of his iconic songs.
About Mrs. and Mr. film
The Mrs. and Mr. film, directed by Vanitha Vijayakumar, was launched on July 11, 2025. It options music composed by Srikanth Deva and never Ilaiyaraaja. Together with course, Vanitha Vijayakumar additionally stars within the film together with Robert, Shakeela, Aarthi Ganeshkar, Srinivasan, Ambika, Sriman, and Ganeshkar. The romantic grownup comedy is produced by Vanitha’s daughter Jovika.
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