Cine News Digest: 28 Jan 2025

First victory for Dhanush against Nayanthara and Netflix India

The Chennai High Court today dismissed an appeal from Netfli India to reject the copyright case lodged by Dhanush against Netflix Indian and Nayanthara.

The petition made by Netflix is that the footage used in the documentary Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale was not from the film, but taken on set privately by Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan. They therefore maintained that no copyright had been breached.

Dhanush’s legal team, however, said that the contract signed by Nayanthara for the film Naanum Rowdy dhaan clearly stated that Dhanush’s production company, Wunderbar Films owned all content relating to the film, including costumes and private videos on the set of the film all belonged to Wunderbar Films and that Nayanthara had signed acceptance of these terms.

The case will now be heard on 5 February this year.

Father of Leon James passes away

The father of music composer Leon James passed away in the early hours of the morning of Monday, 27 Jan 2025. The release of the much-hyped single from the Pradeep Ranganathan starrer, Dragon was already scheduled for release today (28 Jan 2025). On hearing the tragic news, director Ashwath Marimuthu called Leon James and told him that the launch of the single can be postponed and that he should concentrate on arrangements for his father’s funeral.

In an incredible show of absolute professionalism, Leon insisted that the release date should not be changed. Without informing the technical crew of what had happened, Leon juggled the final mix of the song while arranging the last rites for his father. The review of this song is currently available on www.sigaram.net

Rajinikanth wraps up shoot for Coolie

Rajinikanth returned to Chennai today (28 Jan 2025) from Thailand after completing the final filming schedule of his film for Lokesh Kanagaraj, titled Coolie. The superstar will take a few day’s break before commencing work on Jailer 2 written and directed by Nelson Dilipkumar.

Vijay Sethupathi to direct a web series

Vijay Sethupathy is to direct a web series in which he will also play the lead role. Talks are in an advanced stage with Disney Hotstar and further details of the project will be announced once these talks have concluded.

Sanjana Krishnamoorthy, the actress who played the female lead in the hit film Lubber Pandhu is in talks to direct a film with Kavin in the lead role. The project is likely to be bankrolled by Prince Pictures. Sanjana is also an assistant director to Maniratnam in the upcoming Kamalhaasan starrer, Thug Life.

Raj Murugan returns as director

Raj Murugan, who directed and starred in the critically acclaimed 2016 film The Joker is the director of Sasikumar’s next movie titled My Lord, Kannada actress Chaitra Achar plays the female lead with Guru Somasundaram and Malayalee actress Asha Sarath also playing important roles. Nirav Shah will handle the film’s cinematography while Sean Roldan scores the music. The director describes the film as a light-hearted family entertainer that is not preachy.