Bollywood Strikes Back: Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Karan Johar, others sue media houses for 'defamatory' reporting

On Monday, four Bollywood industry associations and thirty-four leading Bollywood producers filed a civil suit with the Delhi High Court against four anchors of news channels and unknown defendants as well as social media platforms. They sued the publications for making or publishing irresponsible, derogatory and defamatory remarks against Bollywood as a whole and members of Bollywood, and to restrain them from conducting media trials of Bollywood personalities and interfering with the right to privacy of persons associated with Bollywood. The plaintiffs also pleaded that the Defendants abide by the provisions of the Programme Code under the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994, and to withdraw, recall and take down all the defamatory content published by them against Bollywood.

This comes in the wake of these channels using derogatory words and expressions for Bollywood such as 'dirt', 'filth', 'scum', 'druggies'. The media houses and social media platforms have also been accused of using expressions such as “it is Bollywood where the dirt needs to be cleaned”, “all the perfumes of Arabia cannot take away the stench and the stink of this filth and scum of the underbelly of Bollywood”, “This is the dirtiest industry in the country”, and “cocaine and LSD drenched Bollywood”.

The plea reads:

Bollywood is a distinct and well recognised class, comprising the Hindi film industry in Mumbai. Since several years Bollywood is a huge source of revenue for the public exchequer, earns significant foreign  exchange for India by way of revenue from overseas releases of films, tourism etc., and is a big source of employment, with various other industries also being largely dependent on it. Bollywood is unique and stands on a different footing from any other industry inasmuch as it is an industry that is dependent almost solely on goodwill, appreciation and acceptance of its audience. The livelihood of persons associated with Bollywood is being severely impacted by the smear campaign being run by the Defendants. This is in addition to the ongoing pandemic which has resulted in extreme revenues and work opportunity loss. The privacy of the members of Bollywood is being invaded, and their reputations are being irreparably damaged  by painting the entire Bollywood as criminals, seeped in drug culture, and making being part of Bollywood as synonymous with criminal acts in the public imagination.

Almost all the well known names in Bollywood are represented through the Plaintiffs, including:
 
The Producers Guild of India
The Cine & TV Artiste Association
The Film and TV Producers Council
Screenwriters Association
Aamir Khan Productions
Ad-Labs Films
Ajay Devgn Fflims
Andolan Films
Anil Kapoor Film and Communication Network
Arbaaz Khan Productions
Ashutosh Gowarikaer Productions
BSK Network and Entertainment
Cape of Good Films
Clean Slate Filmz
Dharma Productions
Emmay Entertainment & Motion Pictures
Excel Entertainment
Filmkraft Productions
Hope Production
Kabir Khan Films
Luv Films
Macguffin Pictures
Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment
One India Stories
R.S. Entertainment
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Pictures
Red Chillies Entertainment
Reliance Big Entertainment
Reel Life Productions
Rohit Shetty Pictures
Roy Kapur Productions
Salman Khan Ventures
Sohail Khan Productions
Sikhya Entertianment
Tiger Baby Digital
Vinod Chopra Films
Vishal Bhardwaj Film
YashRaj Films

The production houses which did not file a civil suit were:

Rajshri Productions
Sanjay Leela Bhansali Films
Balaji Entertainment
UTV Motion Pictures
Eros Entertainment
Vishesh Films
JA Entertainment
Anurag Kashyap Films
RSVP

The court had previously called out journalists for irresponsible reportage and defamatory content and have been found guilty of broadcasting unsubstantiated and incorrect news. The media trial during actor Sushant Singh Rajput's case and speculations around arrests was cited as an example at the time.

The defendants are accused of conducting and publishing parallel private ‘investigations’ and effectively acting as “courts” to condemn persons connected with Bollywood as guilty based on what they claim is “evidence” found by them, thereby trying to make a mockery of the criminal justice system.

The plaintiffs have cleared that they are not seeking a blanket gag order against media reportage of the investigation in the cases relating to the death of Sushant Singh Rajput or filed by the NCB, Mumbai, but perpetual and mandatory injunction against the defendants from carrying on reportage and publication of material that violates applicable laws. The suit has been filed by DSK Legal on behalf of the plaintiffs.