Bollywood celebrities obtain court orders against AI deepfakes and unauthorized image use
Bollywood celebrities including Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, and Karan Johar have obtained court orders against the creation and distribution of AI-generated deepfakes and unauthorized use of their images. The Delhi High Court ruled that such misuse violates personality rights and directed Google and India's IT Ministry to remove and block offending content.
What happened
On September 11, 2025, the Delhi High Court ruled in favour of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan against counterfeit merchandise, AI-generated face morphing, and deepfake images. Google was ordered to remove offending URLs within 72 hours, and the IT Ministry was directed to block them within a week.
Abhishek Bachchan and Karan Johar also moved the Delhi High Court to protect their personality rights from similar misuse. Multiple Bollywood celebrities including Amitabh Bachchan, Jackie Shroff, and Anil Kapoor have sought court protection against unauthorised use of their names, faces, and voices.
Reported impact
The judgment recognised that misuse of a celebrity's likeness violates dignity and privacy, and could mislead people into thinking they endorse products they never did.
The rise of AI-generated deepfakes, voice clones, and unauthorised merchandising has put celebrities' reputations at risk, with a star's commercial value often worth millions in endorsements threatened by unauthorised association with unverified products or causes.
Index analysis
Uploading images to AI generators can add photos to databases that train deepfake technology, inadvertently fuelling misinformation and digital deception capabilities. When images are uploaded to AI systems, users lose control over their usage, and images could help train facial recognition systems.
Governance controls
India has no single Personality Rights Act. Instead, courts draw from Article 21 on the right to privacy and dignity, publicity rights recognised in case law, trademark law, passing off, and copyright and moral rights.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.