Mumbai, August 05: Humour has its grim side as radio station Big FM 92.7 would have learnt recently, with actor Sunny Deol crying foul over one of the station’s shows, Son Sonny, that he claims “is cheap comedy and in very bad taste”.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Deol’s lawyer Ashok Saraogi said, “All kinds of derogatory, defamatory, scandalous and libellous remarks have been made against my client, his father and brothers. My client was further shocked to notice that cheap comedy is sought to be made by utilising the voice patterns and acting[styles] of my client and his father. Also the station is using Sunny’s name which makes people think he is actually participating in the show. Sunny is deeply disturbed by this.”
Saraogi added that the radio station has been given a notice period of seven days to pay damages of Rs200 crore to the actor. “If we do not get a response from them, we will file a suit against them in the Bombay high court.”
If need be, he said, they would also initiate criminal proceedings under section 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code which attracts a punishment of up to two years’ imprisonment.
“I have nothing against mimicry but it should not be ugly. Everybody has a social responsibility,” said Deol, adding that his family had been putting up with the show for long but it had caused him far too much hurt. “I would not want to get into the specifics of the show’s content but you have to hear it yourself. It provokes me, makes me very upset,” he said.
In the legal notice issued to Anil Ambani, Tarun Katyal, Ashutosh Khanna, BigFM 92.7 and Reliance Big Entertainment on July 31, Saraogi said, “For the past several months, it has been noticed and experienced that wherever my client passes from, remarks are made against my client and people are not looking at him with the same respect.”
Owing to the damage caused to his image on the show that is becoming increasingly popular, the legal notice says, Sunny has also lost out on many film offers from different producers.
The notice further states, “A film artiste and particularly, the artiste, who is holding an image of lead hero/macho man, cannot be portrayed as funny/comic figure before the people at large and that too, casually and/or regularly such that he becomes a laughing stock.”
—Agencies–