Dear Nayanthara, Practice Before You Preach Morals
Days before the Netflix premiere of her documentary feature, "Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale," Nayanthara sent an open letter to actor dhanush, accusing him of preventing her and the documentary's creators from using songs, visual cuts, images, music, and lyrics from the Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, a movie that dhanush produced under his Wunderbar Films banner, starring vijay sethupathi and Nayanthara and directed by Vignesh Shivan. It is said that Nayanthara and vignesh shivan fell in love during the 2015 filming of "Naanum Rowdy Dhaan," and they finally got married in 2022.
In her letter, she questioned Dhanush's moral character and referred to him as a dictator, a nepotistic product, etc. However, does Nayanthara have the right to cast doubt on anyone's moral character in this situation? Even after dhanush denied her and her team a NOC (No Objection Certificate) to use any of the film's intellectual property, isn't it improper that Nayanthara and her team used the BTS video, which was shot on the set, in the trailer for the documentary feature that came out a few days ago?
Over the years, Nayanthara has never gone to promotional events for her films that were produced by others, but she consistently goes above and above to promote her own films. She always signs a film only if the producer agrees to not expect her to attend any promotional events, taking advantage of her demand and frenzy among the public. Producers give in to all of her requests and bring her on board because they have no other choice. This is just supply and demand, and while there is nothing illegal about it, is it ethically correct?
As a well-known actress, shouldn't she show her producers empathy and support and do all in her power to assist them sell their movies? Why does she actively market her movie by going to all the promotional events if she believes that she doesn't need to do so and that people would rush to theaters just because they see her picture on the poster?
How can she expect others—in this example, Dhanush—to grant her permission to utilize the movie's intellectual property based on moral consideration? Since she doesn't uphold principles herself, how can she expect others to? Does morality exist to lecture others but not to live by? There is nothing wrong with dhanush sending a legal notice for using a few seconds of his intellectual property without his consent because it is illegal to use any kind of intellectual property—even BTS (Behind The Scenes) videos that were filmed on movie sets—without the producer's consent.
Nayanthara's letter caused a great deal of controversy. Fans and industry people are now anxiously awaiting Dhanush's response or whether he will continue to act lawfully. In the meantime, "Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale," a one-hour and twenty-two-minute documentary, is receiving negative reviews.