India, Oct. 4 -- What connects Karan Johar, Amitabh, Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff? Yes, all of them work primarily in the Hindi film industry. But in recent times, all of them took the legal way to protect their personality rights. And singer Asha Bhosle is the latest to join the bandwagon. But what exactly is the issue? In the latest episode of the weekly show The Right Angle, Sonal Kalra, Chief Managing Editor, Entertainment and Lifestyle, spoke to Janay Jain, an advocate at the Bombay High Court, about what it entails. Janay explained, "In 1994, the Supreme Court said that personality rights aren't just about our name and image... the word used was 'likeness', which cannot be used without one's consent. Personality rights are not just for celebrities, but for all of us. The first people to assert these rights were singer Daler Mehndi and actor Rajinikanth. The court feels that celebrities work hard to make a name, so the right to earn money from it belongs to them, not a third party." Speaking of Aishwarya's case, he added, "Things took an ugly turn as there were obscene websites involved. In the cases of Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor, merchandise featuring their likeness was being sold." Do personality rights spell doom for artistes who earn a living by mimicking celebrities' mannerisms? Janay replied, "In 2014, the Delhi High Court said it would not protect "everything". A bit of lampooning, hansi-mazaak is permitted if done in good taste. A man called Vikalp Mehta mimics Akshay Kumar, so will personality protection rights affect his livelihood? No. But in the case of Karan Johar, some uncharitable remarks were made, those are not permitted. The court has drawn a line." According to Janay, "The court has taken note of this. Social media intermediaries such as Facebook and X had argued the same: Who will be the judge of what mimicry is right and wrong? There was an interesting paragraph in Karan's judgement - some problematic memes were mentioned and similar memes can be pulled down. But a celebrity can't go to court for every comment made about them." Learn more about personality protection in this week's The Right Angle with Sonal Kalra. A new episode drops every Friday across all YouTube channels of Hindustan Times, HT City, Mint and Hindustan. htc...