Ilaiyaraaja Issues Legal Notice To Lokesh Kanagaraj On Unauthorised Claim over a Song In Rajinikanth’s ‘Coolie’

Chennai: Legendary composer and artist, Ilaiyaraaja grabbed the headlines when he issued a legal notice against Lokesh Kanagaraj and Rajinikanth’s upcoming film, ‘Coolie’. The renowned composer issued a notice when he was not informed of unauthorised use of his song, claimed by India Today. Scroll down to find more details.

Ilaiyaraajaa Claims Coolie Cast Used Song without Permission

The legal notice issued by Ilaiyaraajaa indicates unauthorised use of a portion of the song “Vaa Vaa Pakkam Vaa” from the 1983 Tamil film “Thanga Magan.” According to reports, composer Ilaiyaraaja has alleged that permission was not obtained to use his song in the announcement video for the film Coolie, nor has he been paid any royalty fees for the usage of the song.

A portion of the legal notice issued by the composer allegedly reads, “Our Client is shocked, surprised and concerned to notice that you (Sun Pictures) have, without obtaining to authorisation and permission, exploited the musical work/song of our Client Disco, Disco portion of the vaa vaa pakkam vaa song from the Tamil cinematography film Thanga Magan and used the portion of the song which would also amount to distorted version of the musical work, in your cinematography film Coolie without obtaining proper consent/permission of or payment of royalty fee from our Client or the usage of the original/adapted/modified/altered version. (sic)”

Ilaiyaraaja Accuses Director Lokesh Kanagaraj of ‘Exploitation’

It is interesting to note that this is not the first time that the legendary singer has locked horns with Lokesh Kanagaraj. Earlier, Ilaiyaraaja had objected to the usage of his compositions without any legal procedures. In the notice issued by the composer, it states that the director had a ‘history of unauthorised exploitation of Ilaiyaraaja’s musical works, like in Vikram 2 (2022) and Fight Club (2023)’.

A portion of the notice also includes, “Some of the musical works of our Client have been exploited without authorization in his earlier films namely Vikram-2 (song- vikram vikram.), Fight Club (song-en jodi manja kuruvi) and now in the upcoming cinematography film Coolie, all without payment of consent and/or royalty or license fee of any nature, knowing very well, that our Client has not authorized any person/entity including that of Sony or IPRS and that our Client is directly collecting the royalty/licensee fee for him and that is prejudicial to his reputation and original creations (sic).”

About Rajinikanth’s Coolie

In the announcement video for the Lokesh Kanagaraj-directed “Coolie,” produced by Sun Pictures, Anirudh Ravichander delivered a fresh take on a song originally composed by Ilaiyaraaja. This isn’t the first time Anirudh has impressed with his music – he also composed the score for the film “Vikram.” However, it is worth noting that this ‘Coolie’ will be the first film of Lokesh to be released in 2024. Kanagaraj’s last film was with Thalapathy Vijay titled LEO. However, the director claimed that the Coolie is not a part of the LCU (Lokesh Kanagaraj Cinematic Universe).