Varun Dhawan seeks protection of personality rights from Delhi High Court

Actor Varun Dhawan has become the latest Bollywood celebrity to seek legal protection for his personality rights, with the Delhi High Court passing an interim order against the unauthorised use of his identity online. The court directed the removal of objectionable and exploitative content involving the actor across social media and digital platforms.

In a significant relief for Dhawan, the single-judge bench of Justice Jyoti Singh also instructed social media intermediaries to ensure that the actor’s name, image and voice are not misused “in any form or manner whatsoever”. The protection extends to deepfake images, obscene links and other offensive material allegedly circulated online without his



consent.

The interim order came after Dhawan approached the court over the misuse of his personality attributes online. According to the directions issued, platforms hosting such content must remove it and take measures to prevent further circulation through digital and media channels.

The court’s order specifically covers deepfake content created without the actor’s permission, along with unauthorised commercial exploitation linked to unidentified parties, referred to in legal proceedings as ‘John Doe’ defendants.

The case highlights growing concerns within the entertainment industry over the misuse of celebrity identities through artificial intelligence tools, manipulated visuals and unauthorised promotional material.