This year, however, the Malayalam survival thriller Manjummel Boys has been frequently discussed on air but not always for commendable reasons. Before that, the makers of the film were issued a copyright notice by Ilaiyaraaja over the unauthorized use of his song Kanmani Anbodu which was created by him for the movie Gunaa in 1991.
According to Cinema Express’ latest update, Ilaiyaraaja has been paid 60 lakhs by the producers of Manjummel Boys. Initially, he asked for two crores claiming that due to the enormous success of this picture, it is only fair. However, they have agreed at last to count him in at 60 lakhs after negotiations.
The filmmakers asserted that they had obtained permission from music companies owning rights to the song. Nevertheless, Ilaiyaraaja’s legal team argued that he still retains absolute rights over his original works. The notice sent to film producers stated: “Our client does not authorize or consent to these uses under any circumstance.”
Under Copyright Act of 1957, Ilaiyaraaja maintained that his rights were safeguarded and without his consent paying royalties using his compositions for commercial purposes is a plain legal contravention.
For Ilaiyaraaja such an occurrence was not isolated. Besides this, in May he served a copyright notice against Rajinikanth’s forthcoming movie Coolie directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj as it included another song Va Va Pakkam Va from Thanga Magan (1983). On top of this SP Balasubrahmanyam was given a warning letter in 2017 by Ilaiyaraaja over singing his songs on stage without prior permission.
In addition to that, the makers of Manjummel Boys are caught up in another lawsuit. They were accused of defrauding an investor out of 70 million INR in May. According to the allegations, such producers had planned to rob an investor and did not put any of their own money into it.
The ongoing Manjummel Boys controversies highlight significant legal and ethical issues in the film industry, especially around copyright and investor relations.
