Delhi HC pulls up makers of Aryan Khan’s The Ba***ds of Bollywood

Red Chillies Entertainment, which has backed popular web series The Ba***ds of Bollywood, has been pulled up by the Delhi High Court for its apparent bias against former NCB official Sameer Wankhede. The company is owned by Shah Rukh Khan, and the web series has been directed by his son Aryan Khan.

Hearing a plea filed by Wankhede, who claimed that the show defames him, the court agreed that the depiction was satire but added it was not without bias.

Wankhede has sued Red Chillies and Netflix, along with the show’s creator, filmmaker Aryan Khan, for defamation. Many would recall, Aryan was arrested by Wankhede in 2021 when he was with the Narcotics Control Bureau, but later all charges against him were dropped.

Senior Advocate Kaul, who appeared for Red Chillies, defended the sature and said, “I am entitled to do this. You are putting a gun to my head in the plaint. Of course, I can say that I am inspired by characters.... Every producer, paparazzi can appear tomorrow, (saying) my face resembles.”

The advocate also gave reference of veteran cartoonist RK Laxman, who had satirically ridiculed the Prime Minister in one of his strips years back. “That is what we have been proud of in our country. RK Laxman’s character is an example who ridiculed the Prime Minister.” At this, the court interjected, pointing that there was no bias in RK Laxman’s work like there was in The Ba***ds of Bollywood, given Aryan and Sameer Wankhede’s history. (Agencies)

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