Ajith Kumar's 'Good Bad Ugly' removed from Netflix after Madras High Court's order on unauthorized use of Ilaiyaraaja song

Good Bad Ugly

Tamil superstar Ajith Kumar's last release, 'Good Bad Ugly', has been removed from streaming platform Netflix after a court order on unauthorised use of ace music director R. Ilaiyaraaja's songs.

'Good Bad Ugly' started streaming from May 8 in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam on Netflix.

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The Madras High Court, on Monday (September 8), had restrained Mythri Movie Makers, the producers of Good Bad Ugly, from exhibiting, screening, selling, distributing, publishing or broadcasting the movie on any platform, including OTT, along with three songs composed by acclaimed musician R. Ilaiyaraaja for other movies between 1982 and 1996.

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In his order dated September 8, 2025, Justice N. Senthilkumar said he was going to grant the ex-parte interim order in favor of the music director, as the production house had given a 'bald' reply on April 28, 2025, to a legal notice sent on April 11, 2025.

What is the case about

Ilaiyaraaja had sent a legal notice in April 2025 and said that he is the first owner of the copyright of the songs Otha Ruba Tharen from Nattupura Pattu (1996), Ilamai Idho Idho from Sakalakala Vallavan (1982) and En Jodi Manja Kuruvi from Vikram (1986).

The judge said that the accused did not obtain the noted music director's permission to use those songs.

This is not the first time Ilayaraja has taken legal action. Last year in the Malayalam film 'Manjummel Boys', his song 'Kanmani Anbodu Kadhalan...' was used without his permission. He had sent a notice then as well. Reports say the matter was settled later with Rs. 60 lakh as compensation after the film's success.
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Good, Bad, Ugly had collected a whopping Rs 248 crore at the box office worldwide.

Producer Yalamanchili Ravi Shankar of Mythri Movie Makers and the film's producer had told Hindustan Times earlier they had taken permissions to use the songs in their movie.

"We have taken permission from all the music labels required for the songs we used in the film. The labels hold the rights, so we have followed protocol and taken NOCs from them. "We have done things by the book," he said earlier.

Directed by Adhik Ravichandran, Good Bad Ugly stars Trisha Krishnan, Arjun Das, Prabhu, Prasanna, and Jackie Shroff in important roles.

Tamil superstar Ajith made a comeback to the action genre with Good Bad Ugly.