New Delhi, August 19: Film producer Amit Jani has approached the Supreme Court challenging a Delhi High Court order directing the removal of the teaser and related promotional material of his upcoming film, Kala Hiran – The Battle for Legacy.

In an interim order passed on July 27, the Delhi High Court directed the makers to immediately take down the film’s teaser and associated promotional content, observing that the material prima facie violated Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s personality rights and caused irreparable harm to his reputation.

The dispute arose following the release of the film’s teaser on July 17, 2026. The teaser was subsequently circulated through press releases, promotional videos, social media posts, YouTube videos, podcasts and other online and offline platforms.

Before the High Court, Salman Khan alleged that the promotional campaign commercially exploited his personality without his consent. He contended that the two-minute teaser unmistakably referred to him through a fictional character named ‘Ayan Khan’, while also incorporating references to his filmsDabanggandSikandar, as well as details associated with the pending blackbuck poaching case.

According to Khan’s plea, the teaser is set entirely inside a courtroom and presents a dramatised version of the trial of a character described as a “Superstar” in connection with the alleged killing of a blackbuck. It reportedly depicts the examination of witnesses, forensic findings and allegations of threats and inducements involving witnesses.

Challenging the High Court’s order before the Supreme Court, the filmmaker argued that the court had restrained the teaser without identifying the specific actionable use through which the makers had allegedly appropriated or commercially exploited the actor’s persona.

“The present proceedings raise a question of far-reaching constitutional significance, for acceptance of the actor’s legally untenable proposition would effectively weaponise personality rights as a tool of private censorship, permitting every public personality to seek gag orders against legitimate artistic, journalistic or historical expression concerning events associated with them,” the appeal stated.

The plea further argued that allowing the actor to suppress the filmmaker’s creative expression under the guise of personality rights could have an “unprecedented chilling effect” on independent filmmaking, journalism and artistic dramatisation of matters falling within the public domain and public interest.

Kala Hiran – The Battle for Legacyis being produced under the banner of Jani FireFox Films.