Ananya Panday Gets Bombay HC Shield Against AI Deepfakes

Ananya Panday has drawn a legal line in the digital sand. The Bombay High Court has granted her interim protection against the unauthorised use of her name, photographs and other parts of her identity across online platforms.

What the court ordered

Justice Madhav Jamdar passed the ad-interim order on Thursday, November 5, after the actor approached the court over her personality rights. Her plea said products and platforms were using her photos and AI-generated images and videos without permission, including for commercial gain.

After reviewing the material, the court found a prima facie case in her favour. It observed that the content appeared to infringe her right to privacy, right to publicity, moral rights and right to live with dignity. The court directed the removal of the identified material, and the protection remains interim as the matter proceeds.

Two more actors, two more orders

Ananya wasn’t the only star asking for help. On the same day, the Bombay High Court ordered the removal of objectionable online content concerning television favourite Rupali Ganguly. She had alleged that portals were using her photographs and video clips without authorisation, including deepfake and AI-generated material made for commercial use.

A day earlier, Kriti Sanon secured interim protection from the Delhi High Court over misuse of her name, image, likeness and voice. Her plea covered AI deepfakes, sexually explicit morphed content, fake social accounts, AI chatbots, synthetic voice models and unauthorised merchandise. The court ordered flagged URLs removed but kept legitimate news, reviews, criticism, commentary, satire, parody, caricatures and fan expression outside the restriction.

Bollywood’s growing AI legal wall

The pattern is now unmistakable:

• Anil Kapoor has secured court protection over his name, image, voice and likeness, including against AI and face-morphing content.
• Amitabh Bachchan obtained similar relief over fake promotions and online scams using his photos and voice.
• Jackie Shroff has approached the Delhi High Court over personality and publicity rights.
• Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Allu Arjun have also been part of similar legal conversations, among others.

Why this matters for fans

For viewers, a deepfake can look like a harmless viral reel. For the star it features, it can mean fake endorsements, unauthorised merchandise or far more disturbing synthetic content. Personality rights give a celebrity control over the commercial use of their name, image, voice and likeness — and the courts are now treating AI copies as a use that needs consent.

The tricky part is the boundary. The orders so far have tried to stop commercial misuse while leaving room for news, parody and fan expression. But that line is being drawn case by case, and the current relief is interim, not final.

Source: bollywoodHungama.com