Superstar Ajith Kumar’s blockbuster film, Good Bad Ugly, has been removed from the Netflix streaming platform in India. This move comes less than two weeks after the Madras High Court issued an order preventing the film’s production house, Mythri Movie Makers, from using songs composed by Ilaiyaraaja within the movie.
On September 17, 2025, disappointed fans flocked to social media platforms to voice their frustration over the film’s sudden unavailability on the popular streaming service, with many posting about the situation.
Directed by Adhik Ravichandran, Good Bad Ugly originally premiered in theaters on April 10, 2025. The film notably featured three songs from Ilaiyaraaja’s classic Tamil repertoire: ‘Oththa Roova’ from Nattupura Pattu (1996), ‘Ilamai Idho Idho’ from the 1982 Kamal Haasan-starrer Sakalakala Vallavan, and ‘En Jodi Manja Kuruvi’ from Vikram (1986).
Following the film’s theatrical release, Ilaiyaraaja initiated a copyright infringement lawsuit against Mythri Movie Makers. He asserted that the production house failed to obtain proper authorization from him to include his musical compositions in the film. The veteran music director sought both the immediate removal of his songs from the movie and a compensation of ₹5 crore. The Madras High Court subsequently issued an interim order in Ilaiyaraaja’s favor, citing the production house’s inadequate response to a legal notice previously sent to them.
In their reply to Ilaiyaraaja’s legal notice, Mythri Movie Makers claimed they had secured the necessary copyright permissions. However, they reportedly failed to provide specific details regarding the individuals or entities from whom these authorizations were obtained, or the precise nature of these permissions.
This incident is not an isolated one for Ilaiyaraaja, who has a history of pursuing legal action to protect his musical rights. Earlier, he issued a legal notice to Sun Pictures concerning the alleged unauthorized use of a song from his 1983 film Thanga Magan in their upcoming Rajinikanth-starrer, Coolie. Similarly, he had also sent a legal notice to the producers of the Malayalam film Manjummel Boys for what he described as the “unlawful exploitation” of his song ‘Kanmani Anbodu’ from the Tamil movie Guna.
As of now, there is no official confirmation on if or when Good Bad Ugly will return to streaming platforms in India. Interestingly, social media users have pointed out that the film remains accessible on Netflix in the United States.