Bombay HC Orders Takedown in Jio Studios–MasterChow ‘Dhurandhar’ Copyright Dispute [Read Order]

Mumbai: A copyright dispute between Reliance Industries Limited’s Jio Studios and MasterChow Foods Private Limited over the unauthorised use of a character from the film Dhurandhar in an advertisement has been resolved by consent before the Bombay High Court, with the Court simultaneously issuing a John Doe order directing the removal of the advertisement from social media platforms where it had been re-shared by unidentified third parties.

Justice Sharmila U. Deshmukh, before whom the matter was listed on May 4, 2026, recorded the settlement between Jio Studios and MasterChow, decreed the suit on the basis of the consent terms between them, and directed the John Doe defendants to de-list, remove, delete, destroy, or disable access to the advertisement and the behind-the-scenes (BTS) video published by MasterChow.

Jio Studios had instituted the commercial IP suit alleging that MasterChow had produced an advertisement using a character from the film Dhurandhar, along with behind-the-scenes footage from the film, without its authorisation. The plaintiff contended that such use constituted infringement of its copyright in the character. The Court was informed that the advertisement, after initially being published by MasterChow, had been re-posted and further disseminated by various unidentified third parties across multiple social media platforms.

Under the consent terms placed on record and marked as Exhibit X for identification, MasterChow acknowledged that Jio Studios and Defendant No. 2 are the co-owners of all intellectual property rights in the film, including the visual depiction of the character in question. MasterChow agreed that it would not, without the written approval of Jio Studios, use, utilise, or exploit in any manner the film, any portion thereof, or any underlying works associated with the film. A limited licence was also granted by Jio Studios to MasterChow to continue using the character in the advertisement until May 7, 2026, for which consideration had already been paid and received by Jio Studios.

On the John Doe relief, counsel for Jio Studios drew the Court’s attention to links and screenshots of the advertisement reproduced at Exhibit U of the plaint, showing its continued circulation across social media platforms following re-posting by unidentified parties. The Court accepted the submission that, in light of MasterChow’s acknowledgment of Jio Studios’ copyright and the settlement reached between the parties, further dissemination of the advertisement by third parties was liable to be restrained. The Court accordingly directed the John Doe defendants to remove and disable access to the advertisement and BTS video, and further directed Jio Studios to notify the concerned intermediaries of the relevant links requiring disabling of access.

The suit was disposed of in terms of the consent terms against MasterChow and in terms of the John Doe relief. The interim application filed alongside the suit did not survive and was also disposed of.

For Jio Studios/Plaintiff: Mr. Rashmin Khandekar a/w Mr. Ameet Naik, Ms. Madhu Gadodia, Mr. Aman Saraf, Ms. Unnati Gambani, Ms. Vinayika Shahi i/b Anand and Naik Company

For Defendant No. 1 (MasterChow Foods): Mr. Rohan Savant a/w Mr. Aagam Mehta, Ms. Priyanka Desai and Mr. Abhishek Kamble i/b The Fort Circle

For Defendant No. 2: Mr. Parag K. a/w Ms. Anaheeta V., Ms. Pratyusha D. i/b DSK Legal

Case Title: Reliance Industries Limited (through its Media and Entertainment Division, Jio Studios) v. MasterChow Foods Private Limited & Ors. [Commercial IP Suit (L) No. 14751 of 2026]

[Read Order]