In a significant legal move, actress and filmmaker Sayani Gupta has lodged a defamation lawsuit at the Mumbai City Civil Court against fellow filmmaker Vinita Negi, seeking damages amounting to ₹9 crore. The case, Sayani Gupta v. Vinita Negi & Ors., also implicates tech giants such as Meta and Reddit, along with Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, as part of the defendants.
The court is expected to hear an application for urgent consideration and interim relief before Additional Sessions Judge Shudhirkumar Murlidharrao Bukke on September 3. At the heart of this legal confrontation is Gupta’s directorial debut, a short fiction film titled Aasmani, which Negi claims infringes on her intellectual property rights.
Negi, who graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), has alleged that Gupta’s Aasmani borrows substantially from her unfinished documentary titled Prabha. Both works allegedly feature an elderly woman and a vintage car, leading to Negi’s accusations of copyright infringement and breach of trust.
In response, Gupta’s legal suit argues that Negi’s claims are baseless, misleading, and defamatory. Gupta’s plea highlights that copyright laws safeguard original expressions and not mere abstract ideas. “The presence of generic elements such as an elderly woman, a car, or a driver in creative works does not grant Negi exclusive rights to these concepts,” the suit articulates.
The legal documents reveal that Negi had filed a complaint with the Screenwriters Association (SWA) in April 2026. While this complaint was pending, Negi allegedly circulated a “Statement of Support” through WhatsApp and social media channels, rallying over 250 signatures from industry peers. Gupta contends that these endorsements were secured based on Negi’s narrative, without a thorough comparison between the two works.
Gupta claims this campaign inflicted tangible professional damage, leading to the withdrawal of Aasmani from the Indian Film Festival of New Zealand. The suit states, “The defamatory content has unjustly marred Gupta’s professional integrity and credibility, with ongoing dissemination posing further risks to her reputation and career.”
Gupta has requested a mandatory injunction to compel Meta, Reddit, and Deccan Chronicle to remove all related defamatory content. Additionally, she is demanding an unconditional apology and public retraction from Negi.
The legal proceedings have been filed through the A&P Partners law firm.
