SRK Legal Side Refutes Wankhede’s Suit

Shah Rukh Khan’s legal team has pushed back against defamation allegations made by Indian Revenue Services officer Sameer Wankhede. Red Chillies Entertainment — producers of Aryan Khan’s directorial debut Bad Boys of Bollywood — told the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that the series is “not a documentary on the 2021 Cordelia cruise incident” involving Aryan and Wankhede.

Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, appearing for Red Chillies, said the show is “about a success story set in a Bollywood party,” not a retelling of real events. Arguing that “hurt is not ground for malice,” he noted that the series spans “20 different issues” and may be “inspired by overzealous officers,” but that alone cannot imply it’s based on the Cordelia case.

Aryan Khan came under national scrutiny in October 2021 after the Narcotics Control Bureau raided a rave party aboard the Goa-bound Cordelia Empress cruise. Launching a sharp attack on Wankhede, Kaul told the court the officer “is fond of giving interviews” and had spoken “merrily” about the Netflix series after its release.

Wankhede’s defamation suit, filed in September against Aryan Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan, seeks injunctions against Red Chillies Entertainment and Netflix, and claims a specific scene “mocks” him with “false, malicious and defamatory” content allegedly aimed at damaging his reputation.