In a recent legal controversy, legendary music composer Ilaiyaraaja has taken legal action against the producers of the Malayalam hit Manjummel Boys for allegedly using his iconic song “Kanmani Anbodu Kadhalan” from the Kamal Haasan’s 1991 film “Gunaa” without proper authorization. The song, a beloved classic, was in both the introduction card and the climax of Manjummel Boys, a film that has captivated audiences with its engaging storyline about a group of boys rescuing their friend from the “Gunaa” caves. From being a romantic song, after watching Manjummel Boys it felt like a friendship anthem to the audience.
The conflict started when Ilaiyaraaja issued a legal notice to the producer of Manjummel Boys, claiming that they violated his moral rights as the music’s original author by using the song without getting his consent. His legal counsel, Saravanan Annadurai emphasized that using a composer’s work for commercial purposes requires obtaining the necessary permissions and licenses. According to the notice, simply crediting Ilaiyaraaja in the title cards does not suffice as proper authorization.
The Manjummel Boys producers have shared their perspective despite all of these issues. Producer Shawn Anthony confirmed that the song’s rights were lawfully obtained from Pyramid and Sreedevi Sounds, two music companies. ” One of the companies holds the rights for the Telugu version, and the other for the remaining languages. We got rights from Pyramid and Sreedevi Sounds, the music companies which own the song.”
The producer has also said that he and his co producers, Soubin Shahir and Babu Shahir has not received any legal notice from Composer Illaiyaraaja yet.
Manjummel Boys
Manjummel Boys is a Malayalam Film directed by Chidambaram. The story revolves around a group of friends from Manjummel near Kochi , goes on a trip to Kodaikanal. The trip turns as a nightmare as one of their friend gets trapped in Guna Caves. The plot revolves around the struggle to save their friend despite all the challenges and risk.
Sources: Mathrubhumi , Outlook
