Kala Hiran teaser row: Producer Amit Jani moves Supreme Court against Delhi HC order

Supreme Court Sees Challenge to Delhi HC Takedown Order Over Kala Hiran Teaser

Theindiapostdaily.com – Film producer Amit Jani has filed a petition before the Supreme Court contesting a Delhi High Court directive that ordered the removal of promotional content tied to his upcoming film, Kala Hiran – The Battle For Legacy, according to ANI. The move follows weeks after the lower court instructed the production team to pull the teaser and associated marketing material from public-facing platforms.

The Underlying Dispute

At the heart of the matter is Salman Khan’s claim over his personality rights. The Delhi High Court concluded that the film’s promotional materials appeared to appropriate the actor’s identity in a manner that could tarnish his public standing. Justice Jyoti Singh, who delivered the interim ruling on July 27 in response to Khan’s application, held that the makers of Kala Hiran were barred from leveraging the 59-year-old Bollywood star’s name, signature mannerisms, or other identifiable traits for commercial advantage absent his explicit consent.

The judge further noted that social media amplifies the damage caused by personality-rights violations because of the velocity, breadth, and lasting nature of digital publications. As a result, the court restrained the production team from uploading, hosting, sharing, or publicising the teaser and related promotional assets across social media, OTT services, television, and print outlets. Existing posts were given a 24-hour window for deletion, with X, Meta, and Google directed to remove the relevant URLs should the makers fail to comply.

What the Teaser Depicted

The court observed that the teaser referenced incidents and characters connected to the ongoing blackbuck poaching case and seemed to cast the actor in roles involving witness intimidation and interference with the investigation. Khan’s counsel contended that the teaser staged a dramatised trial of a superstar over the alleged killing of a blackbuck, with the fictional character bearing a name closely resembling the actor’s and including lines such as:

“this Dabangg”

The lawyers additionally alleged that the promotional campaign associated the actor with the underworld and international terrorist organisations, and implied a conspiracy directed at the film.

Filmmakers’ Rebuttal

In their reply, the production team denied any infringement of Khan’s personality rights. They argued that no individual can assert ownership over criminal cases, judicial proceedings, media coverage, or historical events simply because those events involve him. The makers also stressed that Kala Hiran – The Battle For Legacy is not a Salman Khan biopic and maintained that personality-rights doctrine cannot be deployed to erase public events surrounding the blackbuck controversy.

Khan’s side rejected that framing, clarifying that the actor was not claiming a monopoly over the events or the surrounding public discourse. His grievance, they stated, lay in the unauthorised commercial exploitation of his identity and recognisable physical attributes—including his bracelet and ear studs—to draw audiences to the film.

Broader Legal Context

The application forms one chapter of a wider lawsuit in which Khan seeks protection of his personality rights across social media and e-commerce channels. He had previously approached the Delhi High Court to guard against unauthorised use of his name, image, likeness, and persona, and the court issued an interim order in his favour on December 11, 2025. Khan also sought a stay on the film’s theatrical release, though the filmmakers informed the court that the movie had not yet been submitted to the censor board.

The Supreme Court will now consider Jani’s challenge to the interim order. (With inputs from PTI)