From AI Clones to Fake Merch, Indian Celebrities Turn to Courts to Guard Their Identity

Aishwarya Rai recently filed a petition in the Delhi High Court to safeguard her personality rights, followed the next day by her husband, Abhishek Bachchan.

With AI’s rise, Indian celebrities are increasingly seeking to protect their personality rights—the legal control over their name, image, voice, signature, and other traits, tied to both publicity and privacy.

In her petition, Rai’s lawyer Sandeep Sethi pointed to websites falsely presenting themselves as official platforms while selling mugs, t-shirts, drinks, and other products carrying her name and image without consent.

Indian courts have acted before to protect these rights, from the Madras High Court blocking Main Hoon Rajinikanth in 2015 for exploiting the actor’s persona to the Delhi High Court in 2022 barring unauthorised use of Amitabh Bachchan’s name, voice, and image.

Other actors, including Anil Kapoor (2023), Jackie Shroff (2024), Karan Johar (2025), Sunil Shetty (2025), Akshay Kumar, and Chiranjeevi (2025), have also secured court orders to prevent misuse of their images, nicknames, and AI voice clones.

Indian singers such as Arijit Singh (2024), Asha Bhosle (2025), and Kumar Sanu (2025) have obtained personality rights to protect their voices from unauthorized use.