Superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment has defended itself in the defamation case filed by IRS officer Sameer Wankhede over its web series The Ba***ds of Bollywood, which was directed by Aryan Khan. The production house’s counsel argued that while the show draws inspiration from overzealous officers, it does not depict or reference the Cordelia cruise case.
Red Chillies hits back at Sameer Wankhede
On Wednesday, Shah Rukh Khan-owned Red Chillies Entertainment opposed in the Delhi High Court the plea by IRS officer Sameer Wankhede seeking an interim injunction on the series The Ba***ds of Bollywood.
During the hearing, senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, who was representing Red Chillies, told Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav that satire and fiction can co-exist.
“Can satire and fiction co-exist? There is no law that it cannot co-exist. I may be partly inspired by real persons and stories yet there can be disclaimers, no problem with two existing together. Where is the ill-will or malice? This is about a success story in a Bollywood party,” Kaul said on behalf of his client.
Kaul added, “We are not looking at people who are sensitive, hurt is not ground for malice. Can you pick a stray instance, a passage here or there? The series is about 20 different issues. We do not show a documentary on the Cordelia cruise incident. I am inspired by overzealous officers. That is far from saying that this is the Cordelia cruise story.”
Back in October 2021, Aryan came into the spotlight when his name got involved in a high-profile drugs case after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) raided a rave party on the Goa-bound Cordelia Empress cruise ship off the Mumbai coast. Aryan was arrested by the NCB team, led by the ex-Zonal officer, Sameer Wankhede, in October 2021. He was released after spending more than three weeks in jail following his arrest. Later, Aryan was given a clean chit in the drugs case.
Launching an attack on Wankhede, Kaul claimed that Wankhede is fond of giving interviews to the media and talked merrily about the issues after the launch of the Netflix series.
“You cannot say that the person depicting ills in Bollywood cannot show overzealous officers. I cannot be responsible for what other people say… I am fully entitled to depict issues ailing Bollywood. Even if I am to project someone, a public official cannot be that thin-skinned,” Kaul said on behalf of Red Chillies.
In his closing arguments, Kaul stressed, “Even if I portray you unjustly it is still not a case. Every scene in this show is exaggerated. I am not ridiculing him or the emblem. I am talking about officials who have lofty idea.”
The Court will hear arguments on behalf of Netflix on Thursday.
What do we know about the case
In September, Sameer filed a defamation suit against Aryan and his superstar father before the Delhi High Court seeking reliefs in the nature of “permanent and mandatory injunction, declaration, and damages against the Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt. Ltd owned by Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan, along with Netflix.”
In his plea, Sameer has alleged that one particular scene in the show ‘mocks’ him, adding that it “contains false, malicious, and defamatory content aimed at damaging his reputation.”
