After Red Chillies Entertainment defended itself in the defamation case filed by Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Sameer Wankhede against its web series, The Ba***ds of Bollywood, the former NCB official has hit back at the Shah Rukh Khan-owned production house. In a rejoinder filed before the Delhi High Court, Wankhede has called the show ‘a calculated hit job’ aimed at maligning him, while also dismissing Red Chillies’ claim that the show is satire.
Sameer Wankhede’s defamation suit
In his petition against the show, Sameer Wankhede had claimed that a character in the show was modeled after him and shown in a negative light. Wankhede alleged that the character of a government officer depicted in the series was deliberately modeled on him, citing striking resemblances in appearance, speech, and the use of his trademark phrase “Satyamev Jayate.” He said the scene amounted to a “premeditated, targeted campaign” intended to ridicule and destroy his reputation.
The show is directed by Aryan Khan and produced by Red Chillies, owned by Aryan’s father, Shah Rukh Khan. The company defended its show, saying ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’ is a situational satire that does not name or depict Wankhede and contains no defamatory material. Opposing the injunction, the production house described the defamation suit as “wholly misconceived, untenable in law, and devoid of merit.”
Wankhede terms The Ba***ds of Bollywood ‘revenge’
Wankhede has now filed a rejoinder before the court, saying, “The series is not satire but a calculated hit job designed to settle personal scores.” Aryan and Sameer Wankhede have a history. The filmmaker was arrested in a drugs case after a raid on a cruise ship by the NCB in 2021. Wankhede had led the case. Aryan spent three weeks in jail during the investigation, but the charges were later dropped.
In his rejoinder, Wankhede accuses Red Chillies of extracting revenge through the show, adding “the defendants cannot hide behind the convenient veil of satire or artistic expression to justify a malicious act.”
Calling Wankhede’s plea an attempt to stifle legitimate artistic expression, the production house said that removing the impugned scene would distort the narrative flow of the series, which has been streaming on Netflix since September 18, 2025.
On Thursday, the Delhi High Court directed all parties to file written submissions and listed the matter for further hearing on November 10 before Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav.
,With ANI inputs,
