The Telugu-dubbed version of Drishyam 3 has been temporarily barred from releasing on OTT after filmmaker Sripriya's production company, Rajkumar Theatre Pvt Ltd, approached the Madras High Court claiming exclusive rights linked to the franchise's Telugu-language exploitation. Meanwhile, the Malayalam version began streaming on Prime Video on June 18 as scheduled.
Why Has The Court Intervened?
According to the petition, releasing a dubbed Telugu version could violate the rights allegedly owned by the company. The matter was heard by Justice K. Kumaresh Babu, who granted interim relief to the petitioner and restrained the film's Telugu OTT release until further proceedings.
As quoted by Gulte, the court observed that none of the respondents appeared despite being served notice. In its order, the court stated, “It is to be noted that, in spite of service of private notice on them, none of the respondents has entered appearance or is present before this Court. Their names have also been printed in the cause list. In such view of the matter, there shall be an order of interim injunction, restraining the Respondents/Defendants, their servants, agents, employees, assignees, licensees and everyone claiming under or through the Respondents/Defendants from exploiting the copyrights of the applicant by releasing the same in the OTT Platform.”
What Is The Rights Issue?
The controversy stems from the way Drishyam 3 was released for Telugu audiences. While the first two films were officially remade in Telugu as Drushyam and Drushyam 2 with Venkatesh in the lead role, the third installment was not remade. Instead, the makers chose to dub the original Malayalam version into Telugu for its OTT release.
This decision has been challenged by filmmaker Sripriya and Rajkumar Theatre Pvt Ltd. Sripriya directed the Telugu remake of the original Drishyam, and the petitioners claim rights linked to Telugu adaptations of the franchise.
Malayalam Version Unaffected
The court order currently affects only the Telugu-dubbed version. The Malayalam release remains unaffected and is available for streaming as scheduled.
Directed by Jeethu Joseph, Drishyam 3 sees Mohanlal return as Georgekutty alongside Meena, Ansiba Hassan, Esther Anil and Kalabhavan Shajon. The film continues the story of a man determined to protect his family while dealing with the consequences of a long-buried crime.
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