The Madras High Court on Thursday, April 16, dismissed an appeal filed by actor Tamannaah Bhatia challenging an order of a single judge rejecting her plea seeking damages of ₹1 crore from Power soaps, reported Live Law. The actor had filed a plea seeking damagaes for ‘unauthorisedly’ using her images despite expiry of contract.
What is the case about?
The report states that the bench of Justice P Velmurugan and Justice K Govindarajan Thilakavadi upheld the order passed by the single judge in 2017. In her original suit, Tamannaah stated that she entered into an agreement with Power Soaps on October 7, 2008, under which her pictures would be used on the wrappers of the company’s soaps. The agreement was entered into for a period of one year and was valid till October 6, 2009. After the agreement expired, it was not renewed.
The actor argued that even after the agreement expired, the company continued to use her pictures on its products without her approval. She submitted that such continued usage had caused her loss. The actor sought damages of ₹1 crore and a permanent injunction restraining Power Soaps from further use of her images. Meanwhile, the company argued that Tamannaah was not entitled to claim any amount for imaginary damages.
More details
The single judge dismissed Tamannaah’s plea after finding that the materials she produced were not genuine documents, mainly because they failed to establish that the company was responsible for the existence of the wrappers or for their misuse of the actor’s images.
Hence, the court dismissed her plea, refusing to grant any damages as claimed by her. This order has now been upheld by the division bench.
Tamannaah recently completed 20 years in the film industry. On the work front, Tamannaah will be seen next in Vvan – Force of the Forrest. The folk thriller film, previously slated for May 15, will now release on August 28. The film also stars Sidharth Malhotra. She was last seen in the comedy-drama series Do You Wanna Partner alongside Diana Penty. It was released on Amazon Prime Video.