A poster of Om Shanti Om

Aug. 11: Manoj Kumar has won his court battle against Shah Rukh Khan but is not saying Om Shanti Om.

The veteran actor, who has been spewing fire over his “humiliating portrayal” in the Farah Khan-directed 2007 blockbuster, said his lawyer was going ahead with a “defamation suit” against the film’s makers for the scene parodying him that caused “tremendous mental agony”.

The 71-year-old also appears to have emerged as a new — though somewhat unlikely — cheerleader of the anti-Shah Rukh lobby in Mumbai’s filmdom.

Kumar claims he received congratulatory calls after he took on the badshah of Bollywood, 30 years his junior, although some might say his decision to take Shah Rukh head on was too late in the day — nine months after the film’s release.

“Ever since the court ruling (to delete the scene), I have had a number of industry people, seniors as well as contemporaries, calling up to congratulate me for having taken on the might of these people,” Kumar told The Telegraph.

The comments came hours before the film yesterday debuted on TV globally — minus the controversial scene, as ordered by the high court.

Despite the deletion, Kumar is not willing to let off the SRK camp easily. He is suing Shah Rukh, Farah and producers Red Chillies Entertainment for no less than a crore.

Manoj Kumar

“Shah Rukh and Farah Khan betrayed me when they continued with the screening of the scene even after they assured me many months ago that it would be deleted without further delay. Even when I met Shah Rukh at an awards function at the beginning of this year, he was respectful and affectionate, but not once did he mention that the controversial scene had not been done away with,” Kumar said.

He is also furious with Farah for her “defamatory comments” at a recent television interview.

“To say that I am thriving on cheap publicity from Om Shanti Om is the worst thing that anyone can ever think of. They should repent and apologise for all that they have said. I am still giving them a chance,” he said.

Kumar, who completed 50 years in the industry this year, isn’t worried that he might forfeit “good friends” like director-producer Yash Chopra.

“It was Yash Chopra who acted as the mediator and brought Shah Rukh and Farah to my house when the issue first flared up. When I recently told him the scene had not been deleted, he was shocked. But then Shah Rukh is his leading man, so there is nothing much that he can do or say,” the actor said.

“I have been made to go through immense mental agony and will leave no stone unturned to ensure that they are made to apologise for all that has been said.”

Neither Red Chillies Entertainment nor Farah responded to messages.