Ilayaraja issues legal notices to Sun Pictures over song in Rajinikanth's 'Coolie'

Music giant Ilayaraja has taken legal action against Sun Pictures, the production house of Rajinikanth's latest film 'Coolie'. Concern was expressed over the unauthorized use of a part of the song 'Wa Wa Pakkam Wa' from the film 'Thanga Magan' in the teaser of 'Coolie' without proper permission.

The legal notice alleges unauthorized misuse of Ilayaraja's musical works, referring to incidents in his earlier films 'Vikram 2' and 'Fight Club'. In the notice, Ilayaraja asked Sun Pictures to get proper permission or remove the controversial part from 'Coolie'. Failure to comply may result in legal action. Interestingly, Rajinikanth himself acted in the original movie 'Thanga Magan' and danced to the original version of the song.

Another point in the legal notice is, "Although our client maintains all legally protected rights, it is pertinent to mention and bring to your attention that the director of this cinematography film 'Coolie' repeatedly engages in deliberate unauthorized plagiarism of our client's musical works.

In 'Vikram-2(Song-Vikram Vikram.), Fight Club'(Song-N Jodi Manja Kuruvi), now in the upcoming cinematography film 'Coolie' without permission, without paying any royalty or license fee, knowingly some of our client's Misappropriation of musical works without permission. It is stated that our client has not authorized any person/organization including Sony or IPRS and our client is collecting royalty/license fees directly for him and this is harming his reputation and original creation. Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj and produced by Sun Pictures, 'Coolie' is slated to release in September 2023.