THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT UK
Bal Ram Sampla
Geopolitics
When Publicity Stunts Masquerade as Legal Action
A petition has been filed in a Karachi court against the Bollywood film “Dhurandhar”, its director Aditya Dhar, and Indian cinema’s biggest stars including Ranveer Singh, Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, and R. Madhavan.
The petition, filed by one Mohammad Amir who identifies as a Pakistan Peoples Party worker, alleges defamation and misuse of images of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. While the allegations sound serious on their face, even a quick examination reveals this legal action to be nothing more than an ill-conceived publicity stunt riddled with contradictions.
How Does One Watch a Banned Film?
Let us begin with the most glaring absurdity. The film “Dhurandhar” is banned in Pakistan. This fact alone should have ended this legal adventure before it began. To file a defamation petition with specific allegations about a film’s content, narrative, character portrayals, and use of imagery, one must have actually watched the film. There is no way around this fundamental requirement. Courts do not entertain complaints based on hearsay, social media reviews, or secondhand commentary. Direct knowledge of the allegedly defamatory content is essential.
If the petitioner watched the film to gather evidence for his complaint, he violated Pakistani law by accessing banned content. His petition is therefore built on a foundation of his own illegality. Any competent defence lawyer would immediately file a preliminary objection questioning how the petitioner obtained knowledge of the film’s specific content and arguing that evidence obtained through illegal means cannot form the basis of legal action.
The petitioner cannot have it both ways. He cannot simultaneously claim to be a defender of Pakistani dignity while admitting to breaking Pakistani law. The petition should be dismissed on these grounds alone, and one might argue the petitioner himself should face charges for violating the ban.
Arresting Superstars Across Borders
Even if we suspend disbelief and imagine the court overlooks this fundamental contradiction, we encounter the next layer of farce: enforcement. Let us say, for the sake of argument, that the court rules in favour of the petitioner and orders the arrest of Ranveer Singh, Sanjay Dutt, and the others. What then?
These are Indian citizens residing in India. Pakistan has no extradition treaty with India for matters of this nature. The practical outcome of any favorable ruling would be… absolutely nothing. The actors would continue their lives, unaware or unconcerned about a Pakistani court order they have no legal obligation to acknowledge. The court might as well issue an arrest warrant for the moon.
This is not serious litigation. This is legal theatre without a stage, a judgment without enforcement mechanisms, sound and fury signifying precisely nothing.
The Popularity Problem: Suing the Stars You Love
There is a rich irony in filing a lawsuit against Bollywood superstars in a country where, despite official bans and nationalist rhetoric, these very actors enjoy enormous popularity. Bollywood films are consumed across Pakistan through various means, official and otherwise. These actors are household names, their films discussed, their songs played, their fashion emulated.
On one hand, we have official condemnation and legal action against Indian cinema. On the other, we have a population that cannot get enough of it. This petition exists in that absurd middle space, attempting to criminalize the creators of content that millions of Pakistanis actively seek out and enjoy.
The Publicity Stunt Diagnosis
When we step back and examine the totality of this legal action, a clear pattern emerges. The petitioner has identified himself as a PPP worker, filing against a high-profile film that has already generated significant controversy. The film has been banned in several Gulf countries, sparked debates about its portrayal of Pakistan, and is performing well at the Indian box office. It is, in short, already a newsworthy subject.
What better way to insert oneself into the news cycle than to file a dramatic lawsuit against Bollywood’s biggest names? The petition generates headlines, positions the petitioner as a patriotic defender of national honor, and costs nothing but the court filing fee. The fact that the case is legally absurd and practically unenforceable is irrelevant. The point was never to win. The point was to be seen trying.
This is publicity-seeking litigation at its finest, a calculated move to achieve personal prominence by attaching oneself to an existing controversy. It is patriotism dressed up in legal language, designed for the front pages rather than the courtroom.
The Inevitable Conclusion
One can predict with reasonable certainty how this will end. After generating a few days of headlines and giving the petitioner his moment in the spotlight, the case will likely be quietly dismissed or allowed to languish in the court system indefinitely. The Bollywood actors will never know or care about its existence. Life will continue exactly as it did before the petition was filed.
What we are witnessing is not a serious legal challenge but rather a piece of political theatre, a publicity stunt.
The Karachi court would do well to dismiss this petition swiftly, perhaps with a stern reminder that the legal system is not a platform for personal publicity stunts, and that filing complaints based on illegally obtained information is itself grounds for consequences. But more likely, this case will simply fade from public consciousness, remembered only as a footnote in the ongoing absurdist drama that characterizes the relationship between Bollywood, Pakistani nationalism, and the hunger for fleeting fame.
References
1.https://www.youtube.com/live/xINhi-dEEPw?si=8eTEBZpAZ1senX3i
2.https://www.news9live.com/entertainment/bollywood/dhurandhar-controversy-pakistan-court-asked-to-register-fir-against-films-cast-and-crew-2911925
3.https://humenglish.com/latest/petition-filed-against-dhurandhar-in-karachi-court/
4. https://images.dawn.com/news/1194582/pakistan-fires-back-at-dhurandhar-with-its-own-film-on-lyari-set-to-release-next-month
5.https://english.dainikjagranmpcg.com/bollywood/rajinikanth-visits-tirupati-temple-with-family-a-day-after-75th/article-10244
