Controversy over ‘Vaa Vaa Pakkam Vaa’ song 

It’s no news that music legend Ilaiyaraaja takes ownership of his songs seriously. In a career spanning over four decades, the composer has fought several copyright cases against the illegal use of his songs and is currently fighting a long-running copyright case demanding “special moral rights” over the 4,500 songs he composed for more than 1,000 between the 1970s and 1990s.

In an unexpected turn of events, yet another controversy has erupted.

The ace composer issued a legal notice to the production banner Sun Pictures over the allegedly illegal use of the song ‘Vaa Vaa Pakkam Vaa’ from the 1983 film Thanga Magan in their upcoming Rajinikanth-starrer Coolie.

Earlier this month, Sun Pictures released a title reveal promo for the Lokesh Kanagaraj-directed film. The promo featured several tributes to superstar Rajinikanth, including a remixed version of the iconic track from his 1983 film.

The legal notice issued by Ilaiyaraaja’s legal counsel states that using the song is an intentional breach of the rights of one of the world’s top music composers.

It states that Ilaiyaraaja holds absolute and moral rights over his work.

Using the song without “necessary and appropriate permission/license from author/owner of the musical works” amounts to infringement and unauthorized use of copyright.

The notice demands Sun Pictures to either obtain consent from Ilaiyaraaja for utilizing the portion of the song or to remove the track from Coolie. Failure to do so will result in appropriate legal action, the notice adds.

A response from Sun Pictures is currently awaited. Coolie features Lokesh’s frequent collaborator Anirudh Ravichander as the music director. Notably, Anirudh had earlier composed music for Rajinikanth’s Jailer. Sun Pictures partnered with Rajinikanth to create films like Enthiran, Petta, Annaatthe, and Jailer.