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<\/picture><\/div>\nFilmmaker and producer Amit Jani has approached the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court\u2019s order directing the removal of the teaser and promotional material of his film Kala Hiran: The Battle for Legacy<\/em>. The High Court passed the order while hearing actor Salman Khan\u2019s plea seeking protection of his personality and publicity rights.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The film is reportedly inspired by the 1998 blackbuck poaching case involving Salman Khan. Salman\u2019s lawyers argued that the teaser and related promotional material make recognisable references to the actor and use elements associated with his public persona.<\/p>\n Jani has challenged the High Court\u2019s order, arguing that it amounts to undue censorship and restricts his right to freedom of expression. He has maintained that no individual can claim a monopoly over public records or historical legal cases.<\/p>\n Jani calls the High Court order hasty<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Amid the legal dispute, Jani has also raised concerns about his safety. He has claimed that organised criminal groups have issued death threats against him and his family and have asked him to abandon the film project.<\/p>\n Jani has also argued that the High Court passed the interim order without giving his legal team sufficient time to present its case. The Delhi High Court order records that the producer\u2019s counsel had sought two days to file a reply to Salman\u2019s application.<\/p>\n High Court ordered removal of teaser and promotional material<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest development follows the Delhi High Court\u2019s July 27, 2026 order on Salman Khan\u2019s plea. The court directed the makers and others involved to stop exhibiting, uploading, sharing or otherwise distributing the teaser and related promotional content across platforms. It also directed that specified URLs under their control be taken down within 24 hours.<\/p>\n The court also considered promotional interviews and social media posts linked to the film. Justice Jyoti Singh said the material could cause serious and irreparable harm to Salman\u2019s reputation and goodwill.<\/p>\n The court noted that the teaser appeared to use several references that could lead viewers to associate its central character with Salman. These included the name \u2018Ayan Khan\u2019, references to \u2018Dabangg\u2019 and \u2018Sikandar\u2019, as well as details linked to the real blackbuck case.<\/p>\n What did Salman Khan allege?<\/strong><\/p>\n Salman\u2019s legal team argued that the teaser shows a character whose appearance and accessories resemble the actor. The petition also referred to a poster showing a character holding a rifle.<\/p>\n According to Salman\u2019s plea, these elements could create an association between the fictional character and him. His lawyers also argued that the film deals with matters connected to the 1998 blackbuck case, some aspects of which remain subject to legal proceedings.<\/p>\n The petition further argued that the promotional campaign went beyond merely discussing a public legal case and used Salman\u2019s identity and persona to attract attention to the film.<\/p>\n What did the producer\u2019s lawyer argue?<\/strong><\/p>\n During the hearing, Jani\u2019s lawyer argued that Salman Khan\u2019s name was not used in the film. He also said that no AI or deepfake technology had been used in the teaser.<\/p>\n The defence argued that the film deals with events that are part of the public record and that making a film about such events should not automatically amount to a violation of personality rights.<\/p>\n However, the High Court took a different view at the interim stage. It held that, prima facie, the teaser and accompanying promotional material appeared to commercially exploit Salman\u2019s persona without his consent and could harm his reputation.<\/p>\n Why is the case important?<\/strong><\/p>\n The dispute raises an important question about the balance between freedom of expression and celebrity personality rights<\/strong>. The Delhi High Court has previously recognised that a well-known person\u2019s name, image, likeness, voice and other distinctive attributes can be protected from unauthorised commercial exploitation.<\/p>\n The Supreme Court will now hear Jani\u2019s challenge to the High Court\u2019s interim order. The case could also have wider implications for filmmakers who want to make films based on real people, public controversies and ongoing legal cases.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Filmmaker and producer Amit Jani has approached the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court\u2019s order directing the removal of the teaser and promotional material of his film Kala Hiran: The Battle for Legacy. The High Court passed the order while hearing actor Salman Khan\u2019s plea seeking protection of his personality and publicity rights. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33879,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[30043,30044,22398,30045,30047,22657,21040,30046],"class_list":["post-33878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-7","tag-amit-jani","tag-blackbuck-poaching-case","tag-delhi-high-court","tag-kala-hiran-film","tag-personality-rights","tag-salman-khan","tag-supreme-court","tag-teaser-controversy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.bhaskarassets.com\/web2images\/521\/2026\/08\/20\/comp-26-c_1781259316_1787197354854.gif\")
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