Ananya Panday gets Bombay HC interim relief over AI deepfakes

The Bombay High Court has stepped into the messy world of AI-generated celebrity fakery, granting Ananya Panday interim protection against the unauthorised use of her name, face, voice and performance style. The order, passed on Thursday, is not a final ruling, but it immediately restrains unnamed digital actors from commercially exploiting her identity while the suit continues.

What the court has stopped

Ananya’s legal team asked the court to treat a broad bundle of personal and professional markers — her image, photographs, voice, likeness, signature, mannerisms and even dialogue delivery — as protected ‘Personality Attributes’. The suit also leaned on performer’s rights under the Copyright Act, 1957, which cover how an actor’s onscreen work is used.

The filing listed several specific harms the order is meant to stop:

• AI-generated deepfakes and sexually explicit or obscene manipulated content
• AI chatbots that imitate the actor’s persona without consent
• False commercial endorsements and unauthorised cosmetic-surgery claims
• Mirror links and other re-uploads that keep banned material circulating

Why this matters for fans

For Hindi film audiences, the case is a reminder that what looks like a celebrity clip, voice note or endorsement may be synthetic. The plea argued that once such material goes viral, it causes damage to dignity, privacy and commercial goodwill that money alone cannot repair — a key reason the court was asked to act urgently before every defendant could be identified.

The court has directed intermediaries and telecom operators to disable access to infringing content, including through John Doe orders that target unknown parties. It is a legal tool becoming more familiar in Indian entertainment: rather than chasing every fake account, a complainant can ask for entire categories of infringing URLs to be blocked.

A Bollywood legal pattern

The order aligns with what the Bombay High Court has already signalled on generative AI and digital impersonation. Ananya’s move also follows a similar digital personality rights petition by Kartik Aaryan, suggesting that stars are no longer waiting for a viral scandal to act.

For viewers, the practical takeaway is simple: treat unverified celebrity content as suspect, report AI-generated fakes where you see them, and rely on an actor’s official handles for news and endorsements. Ananya’s last theatrical release remains Chand Mera Dil (2026), opposite Lakshya.

Source: India Today