Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan’s production house Red Chillies Entertainment on Wednesday defended itself against a defamation case filed by Indian Revenue Service (IRS) official Sameer Wankhede over Aryan Khan-directed web series The Ba***ds of Bollywood.
Acknowledging that the show draws inspiration from overzealous officers, Red Chillies lawyer Neeraj Kishan Kaul argued in the Delhi High Court that the web series did not depict or directly refer to the Cordelia Cruise case, the flashpoint that triggered the defamation suit.
“Can satire and fiction co-exist? There is no law that they can’t co-exist. I may be partly inspired by real people and stories, but there can be disclaimers, no problem when the two exist together. Where is the ill will or malice? This is a Bollywood party success story,” said Kaul cited as Hindustan Times says.c
“We don’t look at people who are sensitive, injury is not a reason to be angry. Can you choose a stray case, a passage here or there? The series has about 20 different topics. We are not showing a documentary about the incident on the Cordelia ship. I am inspired by overzealous officers. This is far from being a Cordelia story,” added the Red Chillies Entertainment consultant.
“You can’t say that a person portraying the ills of Bollywood can’t show overzealous officers. I can’t be responsible for what other people say… I have every right to portray the problems ailing Bollywood. Even if I have to project someone, a public official can’t be so thin,” Kaul further added, defending Red Chillies.
The Delhi HC is scheduled to hear arguments on behalf of Netflix on Thursday.
Action for defamation
Wankhede’s defamation suit against SRK’s production house stems from the 2021 Cordelia cruise ship case, when Aryan Khan made headlines after his name was implicated in a high-profile drug bust during a rave party on board the Goa-bound Cordelia Empress cruise ship.
The young Bollywood actor was subsequently arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and was jailed and spent three weeks in jail before being released.
Aryan was later acquitted in the case.
However, after the release of the web series, Wankhede filed a defamation suit, claiming that the show mocked him and contained “false, malicious and defamatory content” intended to damage the reputation of the IRS officer.
