New Delhi, Jan 29 : In a high voltage legal standoff, Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede’s plea seeking the removal of allegedly defamatory scenes from the Netflix series The Ba**ds of Bollywood*, produced by Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment.
Wankhede, known for his role in the 2021 Aryan Khan cruise ship case, claimed that Episode 1, between 32:02 and 33:50, portrayed a character closely resembling him, causing reputational damage. He urged the court to direct Red Chillies and Netflix to delete or edit the controversial portion immediately, citing the harm primarily occurred in Delhi through media coverage, departmental scrutiny, and promotional events.
The Khan production team countered that the Delhi High Court was not the appropriate forum, as both Wankhede’s residence and Red Chillies’ registered office are in Mumbai. Advocates Neeraj Kishan Kaul and Rajiv Nayyar emphasised that the series is a satirical, fictional depiction of Bollywood life and not a reenactment of real events. They added that Aryan Khan’s creative involvement did not imply any personal vendetta against Wankhede.
The court refrained from commenting on the content’s nature, stating only that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter in Delhi. Wankhede may now consider filing the case in Mumbai, while Red Chillies and Netflix are free to continue streaming the series in the interim.