Actress Khushboo has filed a defamation suit in a Chennai court against the publisher of men’s magazine, Maxim for publishing a morphed photograph of her over a scantily-clad woman in a bikini.

She has claimed Rs30 million in damages from the publishers of the Maxim. Maxim has been given three weeks to “pay up” or it would face a defamation suit, Khushboo told reporters. The actress has also ruled out an out-of-court settlement.

“I received telephone calls from London to settle this out of court. But I am not willing to do it. Damage has already been done to my image and reputation and it is irreparable and irreversible,” Khushboo said. She said the “story and the photograph are both in bad taste” and she was “very upset.”

Khushboo said no one from Maxim’s publishers had come to meet her and her information was that they feared arrest in Tamil Nadu. ‘A mediator had come,’ a visibly charged Khushboo said. ‘If they don’t pay up, let them face the court.’

Scoffing at the suggestion that the morphing was a mistake, Khushboo pointed out that Maxim ‘also carried an obscene caption with the cover picture’. Questioning the sincerity behind its apology offer, she said: ‘Even the current issue of Maxim does not carry the promised apology.’

Khushboo has also hinted that Maxim might face a second legal suit from her husband Sundar C., a well-known film personality. Sundar has filed a criminal case against Maxim for not following an Indian law that makes it mandatory for every publication to have its editorial address in every copy.

Maxim’s India edition only carried a marketing office address. ‘This delayed our communication to them as we had no addresses to write to and had to search for the editorial office,’ Khushboo said.

The Maxim-Khushboo tussle began in January, when the magazine carried the morphed picture in a page titled “Women you will never see in Maxim”. When Khushboo protested, the editor of the Indian version of the magazine, Sunil Mehra, had said that the magazine celebrates women and it had no intention of hurting Khushboo. The magazine said it was all in fun and that it would apologise.

Khushboo has already filed a police complaint, following which the city police have even seized several copies of the magazine. A special team is investigating the complaint City Police Commissioner R Natraj said in Chennai Thursday. The process of investigation is on and Police will take appropriate action, he told reporters.