Akshay also threatened to sue a British tabloid for giving false 'details' of his and ex-girlfriend Shilpa Shetty's personal lives. It was published soon after Shilpa won British reality TV show 'Celebrity Big Brother' in 2007.

'I will never talk about a lady in those terms, this is totally baseless, I've never spoken to the said newspaper and I will seek legal recourse,' Akshay was quoted as saying that time.

Said Rajnigandha Shekhawat, another publicist: 'Rumours can take a completely nasty turn sometimes with absolutely no bearing on the truth... I think it's fair if the actors threaten to sue.'

'However, rumour-mongering is a big part of a celebrity's life and most of them are now aware that there is no escaping it,' said Rajnigandha, whose clients include Shahid Kapoor, Sonal Chauhan, Vir Das and Purab Kohli.

Even southern actors have come down heavily on people circulating false news.

Recently, when Tamil actress Trisha was accused of entering into an unsavoury argument with former India cricketer Hemang Badani at a hotel, she issued a stern denial and said that certain 'vested interests' have been spreading rumours about her.

'I won't keep mum from now onwards. Whosoever writes or says anything bad about me, I won't mind taking them to court,' she had said.

Many feel that stars seek legal help not just to safeguard their personal lives but also to protect their image.

'Actors survive on image, it's their bread and butter. So how can they take somebody trying to tarnish it so lightly? And in the clutter today, image has become more important...It's part of the marketing strategy of celebrities,' said Neelam Gupta, who handles the publicity of singer Sukhwinder among others.

But rumours about stars have always done the rounds. So are celebrities becoming more impatient now?

'I don't agree. I've heard of stars in the 1980s going and beating up editors of film magazines! That's something I haven't heard of in recent years,' said Rajnigandha.

(Ruchika Kher can be contacted at ruchika.k@ians.in)