The makers of the highly anticipated Ajith Kumar film, Good Bad Ugly (GBU), have launched an urgent plea with the Madras High Court. They are seeking to overturn an interim injunction, issued on September 8, 2025, which currently prohibits the film’s exhibition, distribution, and broadcast across all platforms. The heart of the dispute lies in three songs, originally composed by the iconic musician R. Ilaiyaraaja between 1982 and 1996, which are featured in the movie.
On Wednesday, September 17, 2025, Justice N. Senthilkumar extended the deadline until September 24 for A. Saravanan, legal counsel for Ilaiyaraaja, to submit a counter affidavit. This response is crucial for the Telangana-based Mythri Movie Makers, the production company behind GBU, in their petition to lift the injunction. The judge’s initial ex-parte injunction was a direct result of what he deemed a “bald” and insufficient response from the production house to the composer’s prior legal notice.
Representing Mythri Movie Makers, senior counsel P.S. Raman emphasized the significant damage caused by the interim injunction. He informed the court that Netflix was compelled to remove the film from its streaming platform. Raman further explained the complex challenge of digitally removing the contested songs, highlighting that such an alteration would necessitate a complete resubmission to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for a new censor certificate, a process that is both time-consuming and costly.
The senior counsel firmly asserted that the producers had acquired all necessary rights for the three songs in question. These include “Otha Ruba Tharen” from the 1996 film Nattupura Pattu (starring Sivakumar), “Ilamai Idho Idho” from the 1982 Kamal Haasan-starrer Sakalakala Vallavan, and “En Jodi Manja Kuruvi” from the 1986 movie Vikram, also featuring Kamal Haasan. According to Raman, these rights were duly secured from the respective music companies that legally hold the copyright.
Raman argued that Ilaiyaraaja’s claims should be limited to moral rights, given that he received appropriate remuneration for composing these songs. He questioned the urgency of the composer’s petition, especially considering the film had already completed its theatrical run and was actively streaming on the OTT platform, Netflix, before the injunction was sought.
Furthermore, Raman pointed out to Justice Senthilkumar that the production house had proactively filed a caveat on April 28, 2025, precisely to preempt Ilaiyaraaja from securing an ex-parte interim order against the film’s release. He suggested that the composer deliberately waited until this caveat expired on July 25, 2025, before initiating the suit and obtaining the ex-parte injunction, implying a strategic delay.
Following arguments from both Raman and senior counsel P.V. Balasubramanian, the judge granted Ilaiyaraaja one week to submit his counter affidavit in response to the request to vacate the interim injunction.