Ajith Kumar's Good Bad Ugly taken off Netflix after court order on unauthorised use of Ilaiyaraaja songs

Good Bad Ugly, Ajith Kumar's action comedy, is no longer available on Netflix in India, after a court order barred its exhibition.

Just four months after it was released on streaming on Netflix, Ajith Kumar's box office hit, Good Bad Ugly, has been removed from the platform. As of 17 September, the action drama was no longer accessible on Netflix in India. Attempts to search the title led to an error message on the streaming platform.

Ajith Kumar's Good Bad Ugly released on Netflix in May.

Good Bad Ugly no longer on Netflix

The removal has come after a court order that barred the producers from exhibiting the film with three songs by composer Ilaiyaraaja. The composer had sued the makers for alleged unauthorised use of his songs in the film.

In April, Ilaiyaraaja sent a legal notice to producers Mythri Movie Makers for using three of his songs in the film without consent. The composer demanded ₹5 crore compensation and asked the makers to remove the three songs - Ottha Ruba Tharen, En Jodi Manja Kuruvi, and Ilamai Idho Idho. Despite the legal proceedings, Good Bad Ugly fared well in theatres, earning ₹248 crore worldwide. It was released on Netflix on May 8 in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

Good Bad Ugly is not available on Netflix.

Earlier this month, Justice N Senthilkumar ordered the producers of Good Bad Ugly not to exhibit the film with the songs. This led to Netflix removing the film from its platform. The streamer has not given an official statement on the matter, however. HT has reached out to Netflix India for clarification on the matter. The story will be updated if they respond.

‘We did nothing wrong’, producers had said

Producer Yalamanchili Ravi Shankar of Mythri Movie Makers, who produced the film, has earlier told Hindustan Times that they did nothing wrong while using Ilaiyaraaja’s songs in Good Bad Ugly. “We have taken permission from all the music labels required for the songs we used in the film. The labels hold the rights, so we have followed protocol and taken NOCs from them. We have done things by the book,” he says.

Good Bad Ugly, directed by Adhik Ravichandran, also stars Trisha Krishnan, Arjun Das, Prabhu, Prasanna, and Jackie Shroff in pivotal roles. The action comedy sees Ajith return to the genre after several years.