Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment opposed IRS officer Sameer Wankhede’s plea for an injunction on Aryan Khan’s series, arguing in the Delhi High Court that while the show is ‘inspired by overzealous officers.
November 27, 2025: The legal battle between IRS officer Sameer Wankhede and Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment intensified in the Delhi High Court on Wednesday, with the production house vehemently defending its web series, The Bads of Bollywood***. The show, which marks Aryan Khan’s directorial debut, is the subject of a defamation suit filed by Wankhede, who led the high-profile 2021 drug bust that resulted in Aryan’s arrest.
The Defense: Satire Over Specifics
Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing Red Chillies, argued before Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav that the show is a work of fiction and satire, and that a public official cannot be “that thin-skinned” about its content.
Kaul emphatically denied that the series specifically depicts the 2021 Cordelia cruise incident.
Neeraj Kishan Kaul: “Can satire and fiction co-exist? There is no law that it cannot co-exist… We are not looking at people who are sensitive, hurt is not ground for malice. We do not show a documentary on the Cordelia cruise incident. I am inspired by overzealous officers. That is far from saying that this is the Cordelia cruise story.”
Kaul stressed that the series addresses about “20 different issues” ailing the film industry and that every scene is exaggerated for dramatic effect. He further claimed that Wankhede is fond of giving interviews and speaking to the media about the issue himself.
Wankhede’s Allegations
Wankhede filed the defamation suit against Red Chillies and Netflix in September, seeking an interim injunction on the series’ streaming, a declaration that the content is defamatory, and damages.
The suit alleges that a particular scene in the show “mocks” him and “contains false, malicious, and defamatory content aimed at damaging his reputation.” Wankhede’s legal team has argued that the series is a direct retaliation against the officer who arrested Aryan in the high-profile 2021 drugs case, even though Aryan was later given a clean chit by the NCB.
The Delhi High Court will hear arguments on behalf of the streaming platform, Netflix, on Thursday, before ruling on Wankhede’s plea for an interim injunction.