Kangana Ranaut and Javed Akhtar settle differences after four years, defamation case resolved

Bollywood actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut and veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar have successfully resolved their long-running defamation case through mediation, bringing an end to a four-year legal battle.

The case, which began in 2020, saw both parties withdrawing their respective complaints and offering mutual apologies.

The dispute originated when Javed Akhtar filed a defamation complaint against Kangana Ranaut in July 2020, accusing her of damaging his reputation by dragging his name into the controversy surrounding actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death.

In a media interview, Kangana Ranaut had referred to the presence of a ‘coterie’ in Bollywood and mentioned Akhtar as part of that group. This led Akhtar to claim that his reputation had been tarnished by Kangana Ranaut’s statements.

Kangana Ranaut responded with a counter-complaint, accusing Javed Akhtar of criminal intimidation and insult to her modesty during a meeting in 2016. She alleged that Javed Akhtar had pressured her to apologise to a co-star. The legal battle escalated as both sides filed complaints against each other, resulting in lengthy court proceedings.

After years of legal wrangling, the two parties opted for mediation, and on Friday, both appeared before a special court in Mumbai to inform the court of their decision to settle the dispute. In a report submitted to the court, Kangana Ranaut acknowledged that her statements during the July 2020 interview had been made due to a “misunderstanding.”

She unconditionally withdrew the statements made about Javed Akhtar and expressed regret for any inconvenience caused to him. Kangana Ranaut also conveyed her respect for Javed Akhtar, calling him “one of the senior-most members of the film fraternity” and emphasised that she held him in the highest regard.

Kangana Ranaut’s statement in the mediation report read, "I hereby unconditionally withdraw all the statements made by me… and I undertake not to repeat the same in the future." She also offered an apology for the inconvenience caused to Javed Akhtar, underlining her esteem for him in the film industry.

In response, Javed Akhtar agreed to withdraw his defamation complaint, saying that he accepted Kangana Ranaut’s apology and was satisfied with the settlement. The mediation process was deemed successful, with both parties expressing a desire to move on from the dispute.

The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, A K Awari, who was presiding over the special court, accepted the statements of both parties and disposed of all the complaints filed against each other.

The court acquitted both Kangana Ranaut and Javed Akhtar, and the case was officially closed. In its order, the court noted that the parties had settled the dispute before the mediator and had agreed to withdraw the complaints.

After the court proceedings, Kangana Ranaut took to social media to share her thoughts on the resolution. In an Instagram post, she expressed her gratitude towards Javed Akhtar, describing him as “kind and gracious” during the mediation process.

Kangana Ranaut also revealed that Javed Akhtar had agreed to write songs for her next directorial project, a gesture that reflected the cordiality achieved through the mediation.

“Today, Javedji and I have resolved our legal matter (defamation case) through mediation. In the mediation, Javedji has been very kind and gracious. He also agreed to write songs for my next directorial,” she wrote in the caption accompanying a photo of herself with Akhtar.

Kangana Ranaut’s lawyer, Rizwan Siddiquee, and Javed Akhtar’s advocate, Jay Kumar Bhardwaj, confirmed that the matter had been resolved after an hour-long mediation session before the special magistrate court in Bandra. Siddiquee added that both parties had exchanged drafts of the settlement over time and had finally agreed on the terms, leading to the withdrawal of both cases.

The case, initially heard by a magistrate court in Andheri, was transferred to a special magistrate court in 2024 after Kangana Ranaut was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency in Himachal Pradesh. The matter had been delayed for a while due to the ongoing legal process and Ranaut’s parliamentary duties.

The defamation case had attracted significant attention from both the media and the public, due to the involvement of two high-profile figures in the Indian film industry. However, after a lengthy battle, both Ranaut and Akhtar have now resolved the issue amicably through legal means, marking the end of a controversial chapter in their professional lives.