Malayalam cinema star Mohanlal Viswanathan Nair, widely known as Mohanlal, 65, has approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality rights, amid growing concerns over the unauthorised use of celebrity identities.

According to Bar and Bench, the matter is scheduled to be heard on Tuesday by Justice Jyoti Singh. Mohanlal’s plea adds to a rising number of similar petitions filed by public figures in recent years as legal battles intensify over identity misuse, particularly in the digital and artificial intelligence space.

Growing legal push by celebrities

Mohanlal joins a widening group of actors and public personalities who have turned to courts to safeguard their names, likenesses and other identifiable traits from unauthorised commercial use.

Previously, prominent actors including Anil Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan secured legal relief restricting the misuse of their identity across advertisements, merchandise and AI-generated content.

More recently, the Delhi High Court granted interim protection to actor Sonakshi Sinha, directing measures to prevent the unauthorised use of her persona.

Concerns over AI misuse

During proceedings in Sinha’s case, her legal representatives flagged instances where AI-driven platforms were allegedly replicating her appearance and characteristics without consent. The court sought specific examples of such violations and asked for relevant digital evidence to be submitted, with further hearings scheduled subsequently.

The issue highlights a broader concern within the entertainment industry over the misuse of deepfakes, fabricated endorsements and digitally altered content that can falsely depict celebrities.

Wider trend across courts

A number of high-profile personalities – including Salman Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Karan Johar, Hrithik Roshan, Jaya Bachchan, Rishab Shetty and Akkineni Nagarjuna – have also sought judicial protection of their personality rights.

The Bombay High Court has in recent rulings issued similar directions in favour of several celebrities, reinforcing restrictions on the unauthorised commercial exploitation of names, images and voices.

What are personality rights?

Personality rights refer to an individual’s legal authority to control how their identity is used in public and commercial contexts. These rights typically cover elements such as a person’s name, image, likeness, voice, signature and even distinctive expressions or catchphrases.

They are broadly divided into two components: the Right of Publicity and the Right to Privacy. The Right of Publicity protects individuals, particularly celebrities, from unauthorised commercial use of their identity, for instance, in advertising or branded content. The Right to Privacy, meanwhile, safeguards personal dignity by preventing intrusive or deceptive uses such as deepfakes, morphed visuals or fabricated endorsements.