Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment challenged Wankhede’s choice of Delhi as the venue for his lawsuit, calling it a clear case of ‘forum shopping’.
Shah Rukh Khan’s production house, Red Chillies Entertainment, pushed back strongly in the Delhi High Court as it defended its series The Bads of Bollywood against a defamation suit filed by former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede. In an argument that set the tone for the hearing, the studio said Wankhede had taken ‘a one-minute scene’ out of context from a seven-part fictional show and used it to build a defamation case that, according to them, simply doesn’t stand.
The company stressed that the series is a work of satire and fiction, not a documentary or reenactment of the Cordelia cruise case, which once put Wankhede in the national spotlight. Their counsel argued that viewers understand the show as commentary, not as a factual account, and that Wankhede’s interpretation ‘cannot become the basis for censorship.’
‘Forum shopping,’ says production house
Red Chillies also challenged Wankhede’s choice of Delhi as the venue for his lawsuit, calling it a clear case of ‘forum shopping. The court was told that every party involved, Wankhede, the production house, and the platform streaming the series, is based in Mumbai. Since the Cordelia cruise incident too unfolded in Mumbai, they said the natural legal venue lies there, not in the capital.
The argument prompted the court to question whether it should even hear the case before deciding on jurisdiction.
Wankhede claims character damages his reputation
Wankhede’s suit objects to a scene in which the fictional officer, seemingly modelled after him, recites ‘Satyamev Jayate’ and then makes an offensive gesture. He has argued that this portrayal not only defames him but also insults the national motto. The former NCB officer had mentioned in his plea that the series paints him as vindictive and unprofessional, which harms his public image.
For the unversed, The Ba***ds Of Bollywood is a Netflix series that marks the directorial debut of Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan. The series features Lakshya, Sahher Bambba, Bobby Deol, Mona Singh, Manoj Pahwa and Raghav Juyal in pivotal roles.
