Bollywood bigwigs file lawsuit against 'irresponsible reporting by certain media houses'

Leading Bollywood producers, production houses and other bodies havefiled a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court against "irresponsible reporting by certain media houses" after there was a lot of allegations that were placed on the people from the industry as part of Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide investigation.

Tnames like Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra and Farhan Akhtar, have come together in the unprecedented legal action against two channels - Republic TV and Times Now.

The suit has been filed against Republic TV, and Arnab Goswami and Pradeep Bhandari of the channel; and Times Now and its top faces Rahul Shivshankar and Navika Kumar.

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According to the lawsuit, the channels used "highly derogatory words and expressions for Bollywood", said the producers, listing terms like "dirt", "filth", "scum" and "druggies" that were used over airing of several programs.

Other phrases like "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" have been cited in the lawsuit.

Ever since Sushant Singh Rajput died by suicide on June 14, several filmmakers, actors and actress have been held accountable for several reasons including intimidation, nepotism, among other things that led him to suffer from depression, anxiety and thus the death.

In their suit, the producers say that channels along with social media platforms must "refrain from making or publishing irresponsible, derogatory and defamatory remarks against Bollywood and its members.”

The filmmakers say Bollywood is a "distinct and well-recognised class" that is a huge source of revenue, foreign exchange and employment.

It continues: "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.”

Those in the industry who have filed the case include the Producers Guild of India, the Cine and TV Artiste Association, Ad-Labs Films, Ajay Devgn Fflims, Anil Kapoor Film and Communication Network, Arbaaz Khan Productions, Ashutosh Gowarikaer Productions, Excel Entertainment, Kabir Khan Films, Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Pictures, Reliance Big Entertainment, Rohit Shetty Pictures, Roy Kapur Productions, Vinod Chopra Films and Vishal Bhardwaj Films.