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Fracas over jhakaas!
Updated On: 01 October, 2023 07:13 AM IST | Mumbai | Gautam S Mengle
Growing fear of AI deep fakes and misuse of their celebrityhood online is making public figures seek restrictions on use of their name, voice, photos, even dialogues. But is their brand theirs alone?
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Photo Illustration/Uday Mohite
Actor Anil Kapoor had recently filed a suit before the Delhi HC, seeking protection of his “personality rights”. In an interim order passed on September 20, the bench headed by Justice Pratibha M Singh restrained 16 defendants named in Kapoor’s petition from using his name, likeness, image, voice, personality or any other aspects of his persona, including gestures, for commercial purposes. In its order, the bench observed that, “The Plaintiff also claims that the expression ‘Jhakaas’, which is a Marathi slang word, roughly translated as ‘fantastic’, ‘awesome’ or ‘superb’ in English, was popularised by him through one of his Hindi movies, namely ‘Yudh’. A perusal of the press reports and videos would show, that the manner in which he delivers the said word while speaking a dialogue, and the nature of expression is exclusively synonymous with the Plaintiff’s energetic and enthusiastic persona.”
Yudh, released in 1985, was the directorial debut of filmmaker Rajiv Rai, and starred Kapoor in a double role, as two brothers separated at birth. While one grows up as a law-abiding citizen, the other becomes a henchman for the villain—played by Danny Denzongpa—and uses the word Jhakaas with a particular intonation. The word became so famous that a decade later, when CBS released an animated series on The Mask, the central character’s catchphrase “smokin” was dubbed “jhakaas” in the Hindi version.
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