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'Already subject of public ridicule': SRK's Red Chillies opposes Sameer Wankhede's plea against ‘Bads of Bollywood’
Red Chillies Entertainment described the Netflix series as a situational satire on Bollywood set and said that the depiction of characters is satirical.
Sameer Wankhede’s claim that the series “Ba***ds of Bollywood” defamed him doesn’t hold because he was already the target of public criticism and ridicule long before it was released, Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment said to the Delhi High Court. The company asked the court to dismiss former NCB officer Wankhede’s defamation suit. The series, on Netflix , was created, co-written, and directed by Aryan Khan, Shah Rukh Khan’s son, who was arrested by Wankhede in an NCB raid on a cruise ship in 2021. Aryan Khan and five others were exonerated by NCB in 2022.
In its reply filed earlier in October in response to Wakhede’s application seeking the removal of certain content from the series, Red Chillies Entertainment, described the series as a situational satire on Bollywood set in Mumbai and said that the depiction of characters is purely satirical in nature and does not amount to defamation.
The 35-page reply further stated that all characters in the series are intentionally depicted with exaggerated traits and mannerisms to generate humour and underscore societal or situational absurdities, and that the suit seeks to curtail and suppress legitimate artistic expression, parody, and satire, which are protected under the law. The suit, Red Chillies Entertainment said, is a result of Wankhede’s hypersensitivity.
“It is also submitted that even before the release of “Ba***ds of Bollywood”, the plaintiff was already the subject of public ridicule and adverse commentary. The plaintiff’s involvement in the aforementioned FIR had attracted significant public attention and criticism, as is clearly demonstrated by numerous social media posts, news articles, and public discourse surrounding the allegations. These materials establish that the plaintiff’s reputation had already been adversely affected in the public domain well before the release of the said series. The plaintiff, who has an already contested public image, has sought to invoke the defamation proceedings merely to silence artistic and satirical/humorous portrayals,” the reply stated.
Wankhede had approached the court to take down the content from Episode 1 of the series that features a character who closely resembles him in both appearance and mannerisms.
In his suit, Wankhede had alleged that the makers deliberately maligned his reputation.
Although Wankhede’s suit was listed before a bench of Justice Purushindra Kumar Kaurav on Thursday, it was adjourned to November 10 after the court granted time to all parties, including Red Chillies, Netflix, and Sameer Wankhede, to file their written submissions.
Red Chillies was represented by senior advocates Neeraj Kishan Kaul and Shyel Trehan, senior advocate Rajiv Nayyar represented Netflix and Wankhede was represented by senior advocate J Sai Deepak.
In its reply, Red Chillies contended that the clip Wankhede seeks to remove is essential to the series’ overall storyline, and deleting it would create a “broken narrative,” undermining the integrity of the series as a whole.
The police officer in the series, the reply stated, is merely portrayed as “overzealous” and not named, the reply added.
