Delhi High Court Issues Notices to Makers of The Ba**ds of Bollywood* Over Sameer Wankhede’s Defamation Plea

Ziya Khan October 9, 2025Last Updated: October 9, 2025

Former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer Sameer Wankhede has filed a defamation suit against Netflix and Red Chillies Entertainment concerning Aryan Khan’s directorial debut, The Ba**ds of Bollywood*. The series, which premiered last month, sparked controversy after viewers noticed a character resembling Wankhede—the officer who arrested Aryan Khan during the infamous 2021 cruise drug bust. On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court issued notices to both Netflix and Red Chillies Entertainment following Wankhede’s plea.

The court had initially dismissed Wankhede’s petition as “not maintainable,” but after he submitted an amended version, the matter was heard. The bench acknowledged, “We appreciate that there is cause in your favour to approach this court but there is a process to be followed,” as reported by Hindustan Times. Representing Wankhede, senior advocate Sandeep Sethi highlighted the relentless online abuse faced by his client and family since the show’s release. “There are defamatory posts trolling me, my wife, and my sister.

It’s shocking, and the defendants are surely not defending those posts,” Sethi told the court. Produced by Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment and directed by Aryan Khan, The Ba**ds of Bollywood* is described as a satire on the Hindi film industry. The show features a “plain-clothed cop” raiding a Bollywood party and detaining an actor despite no drugs being found—a storyline widely linked on social media to the 2021 arrest of Aryan Khan.

In his suit, Wankhede alleges the series was “deliberately conceptualised and executed” to tarnish his image, portraying him in a “colourable and prejudicial manner.”This controversy adds a layer of public scrutiny to Aryan Khan’s debut project, as the court’s notices to Netflix and Red Chillies Entertainment set the stage for renewed debates on artistic freedom, real-life inspiration, and the fine line between satire and defamation. Stay tuned to know more about it and others only with us.