Bollywood's top production houses led by Karan Johar's are taking Arnab Goswami's Republic TV and Times NOW to court for "irresponsible reporting" and calling them names during a trial by media. The film industry's key production houses, reportedly including those of Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and others hit back at several media channels for irresponsible reporting with a civil suit in the Delhi High Court. Majority of this 'irresponsible reporting' was during the coverage of the death by suicide of Sushant Singh Rajput and later of a suspected drug-use investigation (also connected to Sushant's incident) that involved a large number of actors and producers.
The suit has been filed by four Bollywood industry associations and thirty-four leading Bollywood production houses pleading the court to direct specifically Arnab Goswami and Pradeep Bhandari of Republic TV, and Times NOW, specifically Rahul Shivshankar and Navika Kumar.
This move comes in the light of certain news channels using derogatory words and expressions for film stars and producers such as "scum", "dirt", "druggies", "filth" and various others like "it is Bollywood where the dirt needs to cleaned." Other expressions and phrases like "This is the dirtiest industry in the country". Bollywood has been repeatedly targeted by certain media houses after Sushant Singh Rajput's demise.
Also Read:Don’t We Owe An Apology To Rhea Chakraborty For The Witch Hunt And Media Trials?
What You Should Know
- Bollywood as a whole (four industry associations and thirty-four Bollywood production houses) has moved to Delhi High Court with a civil suit.
- The civil suit asks for certain media platforms to refrain from using derogatory, irresponsible and defamatory remarks.
- The plaintiff includes all the major Bollywood production houses.
The Plaintiff includes The Producers Guild of India, The Film and TV Producers Council, Screenwriters Association, The Cine & TV Aritste Association, Dharma Productions, Aamir Khan Productions, Clean Slate Filmz amongst other big Bollywood banners.
The plea also says that the defendants in the case are conducting and publishing parallel private investigations and effectively acting as "courts" to condemn persons connected with Bollywood as guilty on the basis of what they claim as evidence collected by them, thereby making a mockery of the criminal justice system.
Also Read:Sushant Singh Rajput Case: Former Top Cops Seek Restraining Order Against ‘Media Trial’
Media Trials Against Bollywood In The Recent Past
In the recent past, media houses have been accused of conducting a constant witch hunt and media trials on women celebrities. Rhea Chakrabarty, Deepika Padukone, Rakul Preet Singh, and various other Bollywood celebrities were constantly put on the media scanner and their personal lives were invaded. Not only the celebrities but even their families were put under the constant media light. Rhea's family was mobbed, harassed and accused by the press crews.
Solidarity Shown By The Bollywood Industry On Previous Instances
After Rhea Chakrabarty was released from the jail the Bollywood industry demanded an apology for carrying out politics, media trial, and witch-hunt against her.
Previously, the Producers Guild wrote an open letter slamming the media for exploiting the death of Sushant Singh Rajput. The letter acknowledged the fact that the industry might have some loopholes like any other industry but terming the entire gamut as a terrible place is not an accurate representation of reality. Read about it here
The open letter was supported by various people in the Hindi film industry. Few of them who supported it were Dia Mirza, Zoya Akhtar, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Hansal Mehta among others.
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