Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff has taken legal action to prevent the unauthorized use of his name and persona. On Tuesday, Shroff approached the Delhi High Court, seeking an injunction against companies, social media platforms, artificial intelligence (AI) applications, and GIF-making sites that use his name, especially ‘bhidhu’, without his consent.
Why did Jackie Shroff move court against the use of Bhidhu?
Jackie Shroff, popularly known for his catchphrases like ‘Samjha na bhidu’ and ‘Chal bhidu’, aims to protect his identity from commercial exploitation. The term ‘bhidu’, a colloquial Marathi word meaning friend, has become synonymous with Shroff’s persona in Bollywood. Shroff’s legal move aims to prevent the misuse of this term along with his other identity attributes.
Jackie Shroff’s lawyer, Pravin Anand, clarified that the actor is not against parody or satire but seeks to stop his personality’s merchandising and defamatory uses. In his plea, Shroff has requested protection for his names, including ‘Jackie Shroff’, ‘Jackie’, ‘Jaggu Dada’, and ‘bhidu’. He argued that entities should not use these attributes on any platform without his authorization.
In court, Shroff’s counsel argued that using the actor’s personality to sell products misleads customers into believing that Shroff endorses these items. “Jackie Shroff is so well known. People will think it is endorsed by him. He has a certain marketability to his name. It can’t be done without his consent,” the lawyer stated, as reported by NDTV.
Furthermore, the lawyer also highlighted the presence of derogatory and objectionable content. He mentioned such as morphed images and memes, that defame Shroff’s character. “This is all defamatory stuff… there are distasteful dirty words in voice-over. There is nothing legitimate about any of this,” he said.
For those unaware, personality rights protect a person’s name, photograph, or voice from commercial use without their permission, similar to trademark rights. For celebrities, this includes their poses, mannerisms, and any unique attributes associated with their public persona. This legal protection helps maintain the integrity and marketability of their identity in the public domain.
