The Madras High Court bench issued an interim injunction restraining the makers of the Malayalam thriller “Drishyam 3” from releasing its Telugu-dubbed version on OTT platforms. The order, passed by Justice K Kumaresh Babu on Wednesday, came just a day ahead of the film’s scheduled digital premiere. This ongoing legal dispute follows a lawsuit filed by film production company Rajkumar Theatre Pvt. Ltd.. The firm contended that it holds the exclusive remake and exploitation rights for the franchise within the Telugu language territory. They argued that broadcasting a direct Telugu-dubbed version bypasses their lawful rights and constitutes a severe copyright infringement.
The High Court observed that despite private notices being served to the defendants, including producer Aashirvad Cinemas, no representatives appeared for the hearing. Recognizing the immediate urgency with the release slated for June 18, the judge granted temporary protection to safeguard the applicant’s commercial interests. Consequently, the Malayalam makers and their digital distributors are barred from executing any Telugu digital release worldwide until the dispute is resolved. This major legal hurdle puts the direct-to-digital Telugu rollout of the highly anticipated superstar Mohanlal cinematic thriller film on an indefinite hold.