A legal battle is underway between IRS officer Sameer Wankhede and Shah Rukh Khan’s production house Red Chillies Entertainment over the Netflix web series The Ba***ds of Bollywood, directed by Aryan Khan. Wankhede has filed a Rs 2 crores defamation suit at the Delhi High Court, claiming that the show’s portrayal of a government officer is a veiled depiction of him and has damaged his reputation, particularly in relation to the 2021 Cordelia Empress cruise drug case involving Aryan Khan.
‘Ba***ds of Bollywood is not a documentary on the Cordelia cruise incident’: Shah Rukh Khan-owned Red Chillies counters Sameer Wankhede’s defamation claim
In response, Red Chillies Entertainment opposed Wankhede’s plea for an interim injunction to stop streaming the series. Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing Red Chillies, argued that while the show draws inspiration from overzealous officers, it does not specifically depict or reference the Cordelia cruise incident.
Kaul stressed, “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.”
He further argued, “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.”
Kaul further claimed that Wankhede is fond of giving interviews to the media and said, “You cannot say that the person depicting ills in Bollywood cannot show overzealous officers. I cannot be responsible for what other people say… I am fully entitled to depict issues ailing Bollywood. Even if I am to project someone, a public official cannot be that thin-skinned,” on behalf of Red Chillies.
Concluding his argument, Kaul said, “Even if I portray you unjustly it is still not the 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.”
The next hearing is scheduled on November 27, 2025, where the court will hear arguments on behalf of Netflix.
Also Read: Delhi HC flags bias in Aryan Khan’s The Ba***ds Of Bollywood as Sameer Wankhede accuses Netflix show of targeting him
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