Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday reserved its order on a plea filed by Bollywood actor Sunil Shetty seeking protection of his personality rights and an injunction against unauthorised use of his name, image, and likeness on social media and various websites.

A single-judge bench of Justice Arif S Doctor briefly heard arguments from senior advocate Birendra Saraf, representing the 64-year-old actor, and remarked that “it is scary what people can do with the unregulated use of AI on social media.” The court is expected to pass an ex parte ad-interim order in due course.

Shetty, who has acted in over 100 films, has filed a commercial intellectual property rights infringement suit against several social media platforms, websites, and unknown persons (John Doe defendants) for what he described as “extensive and ongoing infringement and unauthorised commercial exploitation” of his persona.

The plea highlights that his photographs and deepfake images, including those with his grandchild, were being used for commercial gain by real estate agencies, gambling and astrology websites, and merchandise sellers — all without his consent or authorisation.

Some of these instances involve AI-generated content, including deepfake videos and counterfeit merchandise like T-shirts and posters featuring his image.

Saraf submitted that such unauthorised usage and impersonation dilute the actor’s reputation, goodwill, and contractual commitments with third parties. “The infringement acts are causing irreparable harm to the plaintiff’s immense goodwill built carefully over the years,” the plea stated.

It further argued that the business models of such websites were designed to unlawfully monetise Shetty’s persona and “debase the goodwill and reputation that the plaintiff has cultivated over many years.”

The actor has sought a permanent injunction restraining all defendants from misusing his personality rights — including his name, image, likeness, voice, or any other attributes — in any form, especially through AI-generated or deepfake content.

He has also sought directions to take down infringing content and prohibit the manufacture or sale of counterfeit merchandise using his likeness.

Justice Doctor had earlier, while granting interim relief to singer Asha Bhosle in a similar plea, observed that using AI tools to imitate a celebrity’s voice without consent violates their personal rights.

Mumbai, Oct 8: The Delhi High Court has issued summons to Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., and Netflix owned by Shah Rukh Khan, with regards to the civil defamation suit filed by IRS officer, Sameer Wankhede. The suit was instituted on 8th October 2025.

Sameer has alleged defamation in a malicious content published and circulated through the web series ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’ produced by Red Chillies Entertainment, which has gravely tarnished the reputation, dignity, and public image of Sameer and his family.

The issuance of summons reflects the Court’s prima facie satisfaction that the allegations warrant judicial examination. The next date of hearing has been fixed, and the proceedings will continue in accordance with law. In the earlier hearing the Court had questioned Wankhede as to how the suit was maintainable in Delhi and asked him to amend his plaint disclosing appropriate reasons.

The lawsuit names Red Chillies Entertainment Private Limited, Netflix, X Corp (formerly Twitter), Google LLC, Meta Platforms, RPG Lifestyle Media Private Limited and John Doe as defendants.

Sameer Wankhede has claimed that the webseries has deliberately biased and defamatory content against him. He also alleged that the Sameer Wankhede and Aryan Khan case is currently pending in the Bombay High Court and a special NDPS court in Mumbai.

He alleged that a character in the web series is shown saying, “Satyamev Jayate” and immediately after that the character is seen making an obscene gesture. It is an insult to the slogan which is part of the national emblem and is an offence punishable under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.

Sameer has sought Rs. 2 crores as damages which will be donated to Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital for the treatment of Cancer patients. The suit has been filed seeking permanent and mandatory injunction against the production house and others, against the allegedly “false, malicious, and defamatory video” broadcasted in the series.

It has also been alleged that the content of the series violates various sections of the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code as it attempts to hurt national sentiments by using obscene and objectionable content.

Rishab Shetty starrer Kantara Chapter 1 has done an exceptional business at the box office during its extended first weekend. The film took a bumper opening of Rs. 61.85 crore (all languages), but on Friday, it showed a drop of around 26% and collected Rs. 45.40 crore (all languages). However, once again on Saturday and Sunday, the movie showed a huge jump.

On its third day, the film collected Rs. 55 crore (all languages), and according to Sacnilk, on its day four, Sunday, Kantara 2 collected approximately Rs. 61.5 crore (all languages). So, during its extended first weekend, Kantara Chapter 1 has minted around Rs. 224.05 crore (all languages), which is an excellent amount.

While Kantara Chapter 1 is originally a Kannada film, it has been dubbed and released in multiple languages, including Hindi. The movie’s Hindi dubbed version has been getting a fantastic response. In fact it is performing better than the original version. In four days, the Hindi version has collected around Rs. 74 crore, which is surely a very good number.

However, now, all eyes are on Monday. It will be interesting to see if the film will pass the Monday test or not. While of course, there will be a drop, we can expect a double-digit number.

Kantara Chapter 1 is reportedly made on a budget of Rs. 125 crore. So, if we compare the budget and the collection, the movie is already a blockbuster.

Reviewer gave 3.5 stars to Kantara Chpater 1, and wrote, “Considering that Kantara A Legend: Chapter 1 is being released on Dussehra, it could just work in the film’s favour in addition to its loyal audience and word of mouth. The flip side, however, is the lack of required publicity and awareness of the film, which could act as a roadblock. Overall, if you want to experience the unfolding of cinema’s magic, this film earns our recommendation!”