Akshay Kumar had recently approached the Bombay High Court after an AI-generated video of him playing the role of Maharishi Valmiki went viral on social media in September. Now, Justice Arif Doctor has declared the verdict in the case, ruling in favour of the Bollywood star. Additionally, on Thursday, the Bombay High Court ordered the removal of the fake video from the internet and termed it ‘truly alarming’. It further stressed the need to protect the actor`s rights for individual and public benefit.
Bombay High Court orders removal of Akshay Kumar`s AI video
Justice Arif Doctor noted, “Such content needs to be removed from the public domain immediately, not only in the interest of the actor but also in the larger public interest.” The order further stated, “What is truly alarming in a number of these cases is the realistic nature of deepfake images and videos being created using AI,” Justice Doctor shared before adding, “Both in the context of images and videos, the morphing is so sophisticated and deceptive that it is virtually impossible to discern that they are not genuine images or videos of the Plaintiff (Akshay).”
Further calling the AI-generated video ‘deeply concerning’, Justice Doctor further cautioned, “The consequences that can arise from such content being disseminated are indeed most grave and serious. Apart from violating and affecting the Plaintiff`s personality and moral rights, such videos also pose a grave threat to the safety and well-being of the Plaintiff`s family members and can also have an adverse and widespread impact on society and public order, which clearly appears to be the agenda of those who create such content.”
Senior counsel Birendra Saraf, who represented Akshay in the court, highlighted concern over increasing threats of AI-created clips.
Akshay Kumar`s clarification
Back on September 23, Akshay shared a post on X (formerly Twitter), requesting media and fans not to believe in the AI-generated clip. He wrote, “I have recently come across some AI-generated videos of a film trailer showing me in the role of Maharishi Valmiki. I want to clarify that all such videos are fake and created using AI. What’s worse, some news channels decide to pick these up as ‘news’ without even verifying if these are real or morphed. In today’s time, when misleading content is being produced at great speed through manipulative AI, I sincerely request media houses to verify and report only after authenticating the information.”
On the work front, Akshay was last seen in Jolly LLB 3. In the upcoming year, the actor will be seen in Bhooth Bangla, Welcome To The Jungle, and Haiwaan.