When I first heard All Along The Watchtower, I immediately anointed Jimi Hendrix among the premier tier of rock gods installed in my mind's shrine to music. What else was I to do? A few months later, I learned it was a Bob Dylan song. In 1967, a year prior to Hendrix covering the folk rock original, then a little-known entity, Dylan had released it as part of his eighth studio album, John Wesley Harding. In 1970, Hendrix tragically died of a barbiturate overdose but not before he had amassed widespread acclaim for his cover of the anti-war allegory.
Dylan loved it and told Hendrix so, both at the time, when he met him socially and later, when he famously recounted feeling “overwhelmed” in an interview with Chicago Tribune. Hendrix was known to be a die-hard fan of Dylan’s work and the latter’s effusive expressions of admiration for his trailblazing contribution to psychedelic rock are the stuff pop culture lore is made of. Doyens throughout history have gone out of their way to champion new talent. Paul McCartney gave his song Come and Get It to Badfinger. Taylor Swift has supported producer Jack Antonoff’s work in ways that transcend just their own professional equation. Acts of grace and generosity have the power to captivate generations of fans like few other things do. It's a gift that ultimately costs nothing, but only, as they say, keeps on giving.
So when you see ugly, pointless spats break out between celebrities that enjoy admiration from all corners of society, it really breaks that spell. In the most recent instance, actor Nayanthara posted an open letter on Instagram addressed to Dhanush, the producer of her 2015 film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, accusing him of wrongfully suing her team for ₹10 crore over using a BTS clip from the film's sets for her new documentary on Netflix. According to the letter, after chasing the Raayan actor for two years seeking a no-objection certificate for a clip to be used in Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale, the makers decided to use a version of the said BTS moment. The incident has blown up online, leaving fan groups warring over the two titans of the Tamil industry, and colleagues of both picking sides.
It’s baffling, really, to process the sequence of events. If all of this is true (the only statement challenging the account at the time of publishing this was given by Dhanush’s father, filmmaker Kasthuri Raja), one wonders what it is that the man stands to gain from this. Why weren’t the said requests for clearance heeded to all this while? Even if Dhanush’s claim over the ownership is valid, what could possibly be the point of contention over a video where Nayanthara, and the film’s director, Vignesh Shivan, are seen engrossed in a conversation on the set? The actor has asserted her personal agency over the video, claiming it was when her romance with her now-husband began.
With all that established, suing the makers of the documentary for this does appear a bit churlish. Technically, the property might be his but exactly what was it that prompted the vindictive response? Some say it might have to do with the time Nayanthara, while accepting an award for the film in 2016, infamously owned up to her producer not being a fan of her work in the film. While that did get a little awkward, it certainly feels like no justifiable basis for taking his former collaborator to court. It reeks of feelings that shall not be named here.
Of course, public feuding is by no means a new phenomenon. In a cultural context, it is the precursor to the ugliness of reality TV and our voyeurism for platformed negativity. They drive chatter, they drive revenue. They’ve happened between former business associates, rivals, masters and proteges, ex-lovers, current lovers—but at least give us the ghetto depths of Cardi B throwing a shoe at Nicki Minaj. Or the so-annoying-it’s-cute, longstanding, on-and-off spat between the Gallaghers. The saga-esque notoriety of Taylor Swift and Kanye West. In the Indian context, some have been even as extreme as Shah Rukh Khan slapping producer Shirish Kunder (and cricketer Harbhajan Singh taking the same route for Sreesanth). The history of the fallout and eventual reconciliation of Sunil Grover and Kapil Sharma has been devoured somewhat enjoyably, too.
We're here for it, but the Dhanush-Nayanthara spat has reached a place where it has completely disregarded the evolution of the concept of camaraderie between artists. I'm trying hard to not pick a side but really, what does a few behind-the-scenes seconds—from the sets of a film both individuals seen in the video were involved with—matter to you, when you're not even in it, man?
So, the public feud has got to a point where quarrelling has become vacuous. In October, actor-producer Divya Khossla Kumar hurled a few bold accusations against Alia Bhatt, alleging that the actor was ‘faking’ box-office numbers for her film Jigra. The context was that the makers of Kumar-starrer Savi, which came out earlier this year, alleged that the Vasan Bala directorial was lifted from the former film. Now, ‘jailed abroad’ is a trope that has existed in cinema for a while now (who can forget the terrifying Gumrah?) Not to mention that Savi is a remake of another French film, the Diane Kruger-starrer Anything for Her. A claim like this best belongs on some gossip Subreddit. When you post about it on social media, it only hurts one’s own credibility and public image.
Jigra did poorly at the box office, adding to the long list of Bollywood big-screen offerings that have bombed at least since the pandemic—barring, of course, the likes of Jawan, Animal and Gadar 2 (2023), and the occasional sleeper hit (Laapataa Ladies and 12th Fail). Amid all the talk of artists and industries joining forces for the chimeric ‘pan-India’ vision, such unnecessary rabble-rousing not only lowers the value of genuine public discord, but fosters disillusionment among the audience. All publicity seen as good publicity and controversy is an instrument for traction. Where have I heard these before?
It isn’t really unheard of for artists to be driving forces in each other’s lives. Only last year, filmmaker Karan Johar revealed how Diljit Dosanjh gave him a go-ahead to use his chart-topper Lover as the track to be featured in intermission-flanking theme for Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. If the makers of Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairy Tale did keep reaching out to Dhanush for years to no avail and ultimately ended up using a behind-the-scenes visual, who is to be blamed?