Sameer Wankhede, former NCB Mumbai zone director, filed a defamation lawsuit against Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and Netflix yesterday. Seeking damages worth Rs 2 crore, the IRS officer claimed that Aryan Khan’s OTT series, Ba***ds of Bollywood, not only included “false and malicious” content against him, but also disrespected the national emblem. Interestingly, this is not the series’ first legal battle as Ranbir Kapoor came under fire for vaping on camera.
However, an old interview with Faye D’Souza and the ‘Nishaanchi’ director Anurag Kashyap resurfaced on the Internet. Lashing out at Sameer Wankhede, Kashyap claimed that the “service tax department officer loves invading Bollywood.” Speaking very candidly with the journalist, the director was very open about his tryst with troubles.
Anurag Kashyap vs Sameer Wankhede
Claiming that “everybody” had a “very bad experience” with the IRS officer, Kashyap was speaking in context with the Aryan Khan case. He speculated and said, “Why is it that certain news media get information of the investigation out, before it has officially been put out by NCB? And then NCB denies it. Have you seen the agenda? The officer in charge is Sameer Wankhede.”
His experience with the then-assistant commissioner goes back to 2013. Kashyap’s bank accounts were frozen for 2 years on the grounds of non-payment of service tax, reportedly amounting to Rs 55 lakh. Taking the matter to court, the Gangs of Wasseypur maker revealed in the interview that 15 minutes before the hearing, the 2-year ban was lifted. Carrying on his vendetta, Kashyap claimed that Wankhede was always at the forefront when it came to Bollywood. “He is always associated with Bollywood…always commenting,” he added.
Listen what Anurag Kashyap said about Sameer Wankhede 5 years back.pic.twitter.com/vWWzkePVPh
— Vishal (@vishalandcinema) September 25, 2025
Taking a political turn, the conversation also pointed some fingers at the government. Kashyap claimed that even Wankhede was “being used to distract” the public from issues like “economy, democracy, and unemployment.”
Ba***ds of Bollywood under fire
This video resurfaced hours after Wankhede came with his fiery lawsuit against Shah Rukh Khan and the makers of the Netflix series. Advocate Aditya Giri, one of the lawyers representing the former NCB director, said, “This series disseminates a misleading and negative portrayal of anti-drug enforcement agencies, thereby eroding public confidence in law enforcement institutions.”
Calling it a “deliberate” attempt to “malign Wankhede’s reputation,” Aryan Khan’s not-so-subtle portrayal of the incident was remarked as “colourable and prejudicial.” The scene was a fictional depiction of the time Aryan Khan was involved in a substance abuse case himself, which still remains sub judice before the Bombay High Court and the NDPS Special Court in Mumbai.
Sameer Wankhede’s lawsuit also named Google LLC, Meta Platforms, and RPG Lifestyle Media Pvt. Ltd. Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi appeared for him, while Senior Advocate Harish Salve appeared for Red Chillies Entertainment. Passing over the matter and questioning why the matter was raised in the Delhi High Court, Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav ruled that Wankhede’s plaint was “not maintainable” and rejected it.
“Having considered Section 9 of CPC and of facts that the plaintiff in para 37 and 38 has not properly made averments as to how civil suit would lie here in Delhi, Sethi prays for time to make necessary amendments,” were the final remarks.