A view of T-shirts sold by a Chennai-based firm bearing the image of actor Kamal Haasan. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Actor Kamal Haasan has filed a John Doe suit (a case filed against unknown persons/entities) before the Madras High Court to protect his personality rights and stop the commercial exploitation of his name, initials, portrait, portrait or any other attributes related to his personality without his consent.
Justice Senthilkumar Ramamurthy is expected to hear the actor’s case as well as his plea for interim injunction on Monday (January 12, 2026). In his plea, the 71-year-old actor told the court that he has been in the film industry since childhood and has created a niche for himself through his expertise in various art forms.
Citing a specific instance of a Chennai-based firm named ‘Neye Vidaai’ selling T-shirts and shirts printed with his picture, name, initials, his title ‘Ulaganayagan’ and famous dialogues from his films without his consent, the actor sought an injunction against the firm as well as all other unnamed entities indulging in such acts.
In his main suit, the actor had sought ‘Niye Farewell’ as well as permanent injunction against John Doe (the name used for unnamed entities) and his associates, agents, servants, associates, holding companies, appointees, substitutes, representatives, group companies, their clients, employees and such other persons.
He wanted the court to restrain him from infringing his personality rights by directly or indirectly using, using, exploiting or misusing his name ‘Kamal Haasan’, the abbreviation ‘KH’, his image or its likeness or any other attribute which is specifically identifiable with his personality.
The actor argued that no one can be allowed to have their personality exploited unauthorizedly for commercial or personal gain in any way, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI), generative AI, machine learning, deep fakes, face morphing and other new technologies.
Apart from the main prayer for permanent injunction in his suit, the actor had also filed four applications seeking interim injunction of similar nature. She stressed that no one can be allowed to create, share or disseminate products (such as clothing, coffee mugs and posters) or content (images/videos) that violate her personality rights.
Saying that the unauthorized use of his images and names in those products gives a wrong impression on people as if he has endorsed them, the actor submitted a copy of some of the products before the court to prove how his personality rights were violated by the Chennai-based firm.
published – January 11, 2026 01:18 PM IST