Ilaiyarajaa sends legal notice to 'Manjummel Boys' producer for use of his song 'Kanmani Anbodu' 

Ilaiyarajaa and still from Manjummel Boys

Months after the theatrical release of the Malayalam film 'Manjummel Boys', music composer Ilaiyarajaa has sent a legal notice to makers for using hisn sng 'Kanmani Anbodu' from the 1991 Tamil movie 'Gunaa'. The song was used at a pivotal scene in the film based on a real-life story that is set in the Guna caves in Kodaikanal. After the release of the film, the song went viral on social media.

'Manjummel Boys' director Chidambaram shared the news article in Malayalam on his Instagram stories without making any comment. He, however, shared the Tamil song 'Malarnthum Malaratha', composed by TM Soundararajan, from the Tamil movie 'Pasamalar'.

Ilaiyarajaa sent a notice addressed to Soubin Shahir, who played a pivotal role in the film, as well as to Babu Shahir and Shawn Anthony of Parava Films. The composer claimed that he holds all the legal moral and special rights over the son 'Kanmani Anbodu Kaadhaan'.

"Our client reserves the right to initiate appropriate legal actions for such improper and unauthorized usage of the song in the said cinematographic film, which is his original musical work," said the notice.

According to LiveLaw, Ilaiyarajaa claimed that even though the makers credited him in the title cards, it does not substitute for his permission/license/consent for using the musical work. He claimed that the exploitation of the work for commercial gain without his permission/license and without payment of royalty or license fee was a violation of law. He also said that as the owner of the musical work, his rights are protected under the Copyrights Act 1957.

The notice said that the makers of 'Manjummel Boys' used the song at multiple points in the film and continued to use the song for their promotional material on various platforms. He thus called upon the producers of the movie to either obtain proper permission/consent/license for continuing to use the song or remove the musical work from the movie and the promotional activities. He also sought compensation for unauthorised use of the song within a period of 15 days.

'Manjummel Boys' was a monster hit at the Kerala and Tamil Nadu box office. It became the first Malayalam film to collect Rs 200 crore at the box office in just 26 days of its release. The movie is based on a true incident from 2006 and revolves around a group of friends from a small town called Manjummel near Kochi, who decide to take a vacation in Kodaikanal.