Bollywood Under Fire: Complaint Over Ranbir Kapoor’s E-Cigarette Scene, Rights Panel Seeks Report

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and Mumbai Police to submit an Action Taken Report over a complaint against Aryan Khan’s Netflix series The Ba**ds of Bollywood*.

The complaint, filed by Vinay Joshi of the Legal Rights Observatory, claims that the show depicts Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor using a banned e-cigarette on screen without a statutory warning or disclaimer. In his petition dated September 22, Joshi argued that the scene was streamed openly, potentially misleading young viewers by “promoting the use of banned substances.” He also sought legal action against Kapoor, the show’s producers, and Netflix for allegedly spreading harmful content in violation of Indian law.

Ranbir Kapoor appears briefly in the series finale, playing himself in a scene with filmmaker Karan Johar and Sanya (Anya Singh), the manager of lead character Aasmaan Singh (Lakshya). It is here that he is shown vaping.

Released on September 18, the seven-episode series marks Aryan Khan’s directorial debut and also features cameo appearances by Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Ranveer Singh, and Emraan Hashmi.