'Superstar' Rajinikanth's legal counsel Subbiah Elambharathi has issued a public notice on behalf of the actor warning of civil and criminal action against the unauthorized use of his name, image, voice, and other distinctive elements. The iconic Tamil actor released the statement on Saturday, January 28, citing any unauthorized use of his identity will lead to confusion and deception amongst the public. Rajinikanth's legal counsel states, "Our client is an actor of humongous reputation having acted in films across languages for decades. His charisma and nature as an actor L and a human being has earned him the title "Superstar" called upon by millions of his fans worldwide. The sheer proportion of his fan base and his respect across the film industry is unmatched and undisputable. Any damage or violation to his reputation or persona would entail great loss to our client having its effect over many spheres."
The statement further read, "Our Client is a person with a celebrity status and thus has "Personality/Publicity/Celebrity Rights" over all facets of his personality. It has come to Our Client's notice that various platforms and mediums and also various product manufacturers are misappropriating Our Client's name, voice, image, Photograph and caricature image, artistic image, computer AI (Artificial Intelligence) generated image, and other characteristics to create popularity amongst the public and to entice member of the public to purchase their products and to have access their Platform and medium. Our client is popularly known as Superstar."
Rajinikanth's legal counsel added in the notice, "Our Client states that Our Client's image, name, unique photographs, and or likeness on digital platforms and physical platforms all of which are distinctive to our Client, and any unauthorized use of the same by anyone is likely to create confusion and deception amongst the public. Our Client further states that Our client is the only person who has control over the commercial utilization of his personality, name, voice, image, likeness, and other characteristics that or and uniquely identifiable, and also associated with Our Client, no one can utilize and/ or misappropriate and /or imitate any facets of Our Client's personality (including but not limited to his name, voice, image, and any other distinctive elements that are uniquely associated with Our Client) and /or exploit the same commercially in any manner whatsoever without the consent and /or express authorization from Our Client."
In conclusion, Rajinikanth's legal counsel said, "In the above said circumstances, notice is hereby given that if anyone is infringing Our Client's personality/publicity/celebrity rights over all facets of Our Client's personality (including but not limited to his name, voice, image, and any other distinctive elements that are uniquely associated with Our Client). Our Client will take all proceedings including civil and criminal in accordance with the law as against the persons who are infringing Our Client's rights." Below is Rajinikanth's public notice:
On the work front, Rajinikanth is currently filming his upcoming action film, Jailer, under Nelson Dilipkumar's direction, which is being produced by the prestigious Sun Pictures banner. The film also stars big names like Mohanlal, Dr. Shivarajkumar, Tamannaah, Ramya Krishnan, Sunil, Yogi Babu, Vasanth Ravi, Vinayakan, among others, and includes music by Anirudh Ravichander.