Kamal Haasan secures interim relief in personality rights suit before Madras High Court

The Madras High Court on Monday (January 12, 2026) granted interim relief to actor Kamal Haasan in a John Doe suit (a case filed against unknown individuals/entities) before the Madras High Court to protect his personality rights and prevent commercial exploitation of his name, portraits, images, or any other attributes related to his persona without his express consent.

Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy restrained a Chennai-based firm Neeye Vidai, as well as many other unknown entities and individuals, from selling merchandise such as T-shirts and shirts with the actor’s image/name, including screen names such as Ulaganayagan attributed to him, without his consent or endorsement until the next date of hearing of the case.

The injunction was granted after being convinced with the submissions of senior counsel Satish Parasaran, assisted by advocate Vijayan Subramanian, that the actor had made out a prima facie case for grant of the interim relief. The judge, however, made it clear that the order would not stand in the way of caricature, satire, or other forms of permissble creative expressions.

In his plaint, Mr. Haasan told the court that he was considered one of the greatest and most versatile actors of all time in the country and that he was renowed for portraying diverse and complex roles across multiple genres, often involving physical transformations. He said, people call him as the ‘cinema encyclopaedia’ for his immense knowledge and mastery over various aspects of filmmaking.

The 71-year-old actor also told the court that he had so far made 250 films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada, and Bengali in his career spanning over 65 years. He had won four national awards, 20 Filmfare awards, 11 Tamil Nadu State film awards, and four Nandi awards. Further, he was honoured with the Kalaimamani award in 1978, Padma Shri in 1978, Padma Bhushan in 2014, and the Chevalier in 2016.

Stating that he was invited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2025 to become a member of its Actors Branch, for being an “exceptionally talented individual having made indelible contributions to global filmmaking community,” the plaintiff told the court that his endorsements for various products and services carry significant commercial weightage and trust among the people at large.

He contended that neither Neeye Vidai nor any other entity could be permitted to commercially exploit his name, images, and other attributes related to his persona without his consent. After granting the interim relief, the judge directed the actor to issue a notification regarding the court order in an English as well as Tamil daily since he had filed a John Doe suit and therefore, the order must be communicated to all concerned.