Madras High Court grants interim protection to Kamal Haasan against unauthorised use of his persona

Chennai: The Madras High Court on Monday granted interim relief to veteran actor Kamal Haasan in a John Doe suit, restraining unauthorised commercial exploitation of his personality rights, including the use of his name, image, likeness or other attributes associated with his public persona.

Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy passed the interim injunction while hearing a plea filed by the actor seeking protection against the sale of merchandise bearing his name or image without consent.

The court restrained a Chennai-based firm, Neeye Vidai, along with several other unidentified individuals and entities, from selling products such as T-shirts and shirts featuring the actor’s image, name or screen titles, including “Ulaganayagan”, unless expressly authorised or endorsed by him.

The restraint will remain in force until the next date of hearing.

The interim order was granted after the court was satisfied that the actor had established a prima facie case.

Senior counsel Satish Parasaran, assisted by advocate Vijayan Subramanian, appeared for the plaintiff and argued that the unauthorised commercial use of the actor’s persona amounted to a clear violation of his personality and publicity rights.

Accepting the submissions, the judge observed that commercial exploitation without consent could not be permitted at this stage.

However, the court clarified that the order would not restrict legitimate creative expressions such as caricature, satire or other permissible artistic works, provided they did not amount to commercial misuse of the actor’s persona.

In his plaint, Kamal Haasan stated that he is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most versatile actors in Indian cinema, known for portraying complex and diverse roles across genres, often involving significant physical and artistic transformations.

He noted that he is popularly referred to as a “cinema encyclopaedia” due to his extensive knowledge and mastery over various aspects of filmmaking.

The 71-year-old actor informed the court that he has acted in about 250 films across Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali languages during a career spanning over 65 years.

His accolades include four National Film Awards, 20 Filmfare Awards, 11 Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, and four Nandi Awards.

He has also been honoured with the Kalaimamani Award (1978), Padma Shri (1978), Padma Bhushan (2014), and the Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2016).

The veteran actor further pointed out that he was invited in 2025 to become a member of the Actors Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in recognition of his “indelible contributions to the global filmmaking community”.

He argued that his endorsements command significant commercial value and public trust, and therefore unauthorised use of his persona could mislead consumers.

After granting interim relief, the court directed the actor to issue a public notice about the order in both an English and a Tamil daily, noting that the John Doe nature of the suit required wide communication of the injunction.