Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment has opposed the defamation case filed by IRS officer Sameer Wankhede over Aryan Khan’s web series The Ba***ds of Bollywood. During the hearing, senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing Red Chillies Entertainment, argued that even though the series has taken inspiration from overzealous officers, it is not a documentary on the Cordelia cruise incident.
According to Hindustan Times, Kaul, told Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav, “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.”
“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,” he further added.
In his closing arguments, the senior lawyer stated, “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 ideas.”
On Thursday, the court will hear Netflix’s argument.
What Is The Bads Of Bollywood Controversy?
Aryan Khan’s directorial debut, The Ba***ds of Bollywood, became the talk of the town when it was released on Netflix in September this year. In one of the scenes, an officer comes to a Bollywood party and arrests a guy in a fake drugs case just because he is against Bollywood. The sequence went viral on social media, and netizens started speculating whether Aryan took a dig at Sameer Wankhede in the show.
Later, Wankhede filed a defamation case against the makers and Netflix.