Actor Jackie Shroff has taken legal action to safeguard his persona by filing a petition in the Delhi High Court. The veteran Bollywood star is seeking an injunction against the unauthorized use of his name, nicknames like "Jackie" and "Bhidu," images, voice, and other elements of his identity. Jackie Shroff, known for his charismatic on-screen presence and distinctive style, has been a prominent figure in the Indian film industry for decades. However, with the rise of digital media and social networking platforms, instances of unauthorized use of celebrities' identities have become increasingly prevalent. From fake endorsements to morphed images and voice impersonations, celebrities often find their identities misused for various purposes without their consent.
In his plea to the Delhi High Court, Jackie Shroff aims to protect his personality rights, which encompass the exclusive right to control and profit from the commercial use of his identity. The petition highlights the importance of safeguarding celebrities' identities from exploitation and misrepresentation, which can not only harm their reputation but also lead to financial losses. Jackie Shroff rose to fame with Subhash Ghai's Hero and became an overnight star.
The actor since then has given several hits and blockbusters including Teri Meherbaniyan, Karma, Jawab Hum Denge, Parinda, Ram Lakhan, Baap Numbri Beta Dus Numbri, Tridev, Border and more. The actor was last seen in the movie Mast Mein Rehne Ka which also starred Neena Gupta and will be next seen in Varun Dhawan-starrer Baby John. The film also stars Keerthy Suresh, Wamiqa Gabbi and Sanya Malhotra along with others in key roles and is remake of Atlee's Tamil hit Theri.
Earlier, Anil won a lawsuit which sought to protect his personality rights with respect to his name, voice, image, likeness, manner of speaking and gestures, and more. Even it included the ‘jhakaas’ catchphrase. Delhi High Court restrained the misuse of Anil's above-mentioned, for commercial gains.Anil Kapoor said in a statement provided by his team, “I had filed a suit in Delhi high court through my lawyer Ameet Naik for protection of my personality rights including my name, image, likeness, voice and other attributes of my personality against any misuse including on digital media. The suit has various instances of misuse of my attributes.”
He added, "The court has after a detailed hearing granted an order acknowledging my personality rights and restraining all offenders from misusing my personality attributes including my name, image, likeness, voice etc. without my permission in any manner including through artificial intelligence, deep fakes, GIFs. etc."Anil said that his "intention is not to interfere with anyone's freedom or expression or to penalise anyone. Prior to Anil Kapoor, legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan also sought protection of his personality rights.