Shah Rukh, Salman among others are taking Arnab Goswami to court

A suit filed in Delhi court questions Indian media’s smear campaign to paint Bollywood 'drenched in cocaine and LSD'

On Monday, four Bollywood industry associations and 34 leading production houses filed a civil lawsuit before the Delhi High Court against mainstream Indian publications and TV channels. Production houses owned by Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) and Salman Khan are also among the plaintiffs challenging derogatory remarks by Republic TV, famous Indian journalist Arnab Goswami and other leading news anchors from India, reported Hindustan Times.

The lawsuit also seeks to restrain news channels from conducting media trials of Bollywood personalities and interfering with the right to privacy of people associated with the film industry. Plaintiffs also prayed that the defendants abide by the provisions of the Programme Code under the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994, to withdraw, recall and take down all defamatory content published by them against Bollywood.

This comes in the wake of the above-mentioned channels using words such as "dirt", "filth", "scum" and "druggies" for Bollywood. This also includes 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 civil suits pleaded that the film fraternity has a distinct and well-recognised reputation that contributes immensely to the country’s foreign exchange and tourism. The suit also reminded that the industry is a big source of employment, with various other industries also being dependent on it.

Furthermore, the documents contend that the privacy of the stars’ is being invaded and their reputations irreparably damaged by painting the entire industry seeped in the drug culture. To be a part of Bollywood is being painted as being synonymous with criminal acts in the public imagination.

Almost all well-known names in Bollywood are represented through the plaintiffs, including Producers Guild of India, Cine & TV Artiste Association, Film and TV Producers Council and Screenwriters Association.

Other production houses mentioned in the suit include Aamir Khan Productions, Ad-Labs Films, Ajay Devgn Films, Andolan Films, Anil Kapoor Film and Communication Network, Arbaaz Khan Productions, Ashutosh Gowariker Productions, BSK Network, and Entertainment, Cape Of Good Films, Clean Slate Films, Dharma Productions, Emmay Entertainment and Motion Pictures, Excel Entertainment, Filmkraft Productions, Hope Production, Kabir Khan Films, Luv Films, McGuffin 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 Entertainment, Tiger Baby Digital, Vinod Chopra Films, Vishal Bhardwaj Film, Yash Raj Films are named in the lawsuit.

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