The Delhi High Court on Friday indicated that it will issue interim directions safeguarding the personality rights of Malayalam actor Mohanlal. The matter was heard by Justice Jyoti Singh, who also approved the actor’s request to include additional parties as defendants in his ongoing case.
This development follows an earlier hearing where the Court had allowed Mohanlal to withdraw his initial interim plea, while granting him the liberty to refile it with more detailed information. Acting on that liberty, the actor has now approached the Court again with a revised application.
During the latest proceedings, the Court directed Mohanlal to furnish a detailed note of the allegedly infringing links to the defendants involved in the case. The move is aimed at ensuring clarity on the specific instances where his personality rights are said to have been violated.
The Court has, in recent times, dealt with several similar matters concerning the unauthorised use of public figures’ identities. It had earlier issued a John Doe order protecting the personality rights of actor Sonakshi Sinha and yoga guru Ramdev. In comparable cases, coordinate benches have extended such protection to singer Jubin Nautiyal, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, and actors Kajol, R. Madhavan, and Jr NTR. A similar plea has also been filed by Salman Khan.
In addition, courts have previously granted relief in favour of personalities such as Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Nagarjuna, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, and filmmaker Karan Johar. More recently, journalist Sudhir Chaudhary secured protection against allegedly misleading AI-generated videos circulating online. A similar John Doe order was also passed in favour of podcaster Raj Shamani, with the Court noting his prominence in the digital content space.
On the professional front, Mohanlal has a packed slate of releases lined up. He will next be seen in Patriot, directed by Mahesh Narayanan, which also stars Mammootty and Kunchacko Boban. The political drama marks a rare collaboration between Mohanlal and Mammootty and is scheduled for a theatrical release on April 23, 2026. He is also working on an untitled project, L366, helmed by Tharun Moorthy which is currently in production. Another major project in his lineup is Drishyam 3, directed by Jeethu Joseph. The film is expected to conclude the widely followed story of Georgekutty, with Meena, Ansiba Hassan, and Esther Anil reprising their roles. It is currently targeting a release on May 21, 2026.
Apart from these, Mohanlal is also associated with Ram, a project that has been in development since the pandemic and is yet to hit theatres, along with a few other ventures in the pipeline.
Also Read: Drishyam 2 set for theatrical release on April 10 ahead of Drishyam 3 release in May
