Veteran actor Mukesh Khanna has reacted to the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issuing show cause notices to Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff over their association with gutka advertisements. While Mukesh welcomed the action taken by the department, he questioned why it happened so late. According to him, the actors had already earned money from such endorsements for three years by the time action was taken. Mukesh shared his views during an interaction with The Free Press Journal, where he also discussed several other topics related to the film industry, artificial intelligence, Sharmila Tagore’s views on Vande Mataram and Ramayana.
Speaking about the notices issued to Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff, Mukesh said he was happy that the authorities had finally taken action. However, he felt the decision should have come much earlier. “I am happy, bohot late aaya. 3 saal toh kama chuke hain woh log. Aap kya message de rahe ho? Aap aadab bol rahe ho. Kesar shabd use hota hai shaurya ke liye, ladaai ke liye, aur aap kesar ko aadab kar rahe ho, aur ishaare se keh rahe ho, khaa le gutka (I am happy, but it came very late. Those people have already worked for three years. What message are you sending? You are saying aadab. The word saffron is used for bravery, for fighting, and you are saying aadab to saffron, and indirectly saying, eat gutka),” he said.
Mukesh also raised concerns about the effect of such advertisements on children. He said that he has been asking for these types of advertisements to be banned for the past three years. His main concern is that popular actors can influence young viewers, who may see celebrities promoting products and consider them acceptable or safe.
During the same conversation, Mukesh also mentioned Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar while discussing celebrity endorsements. He said that Ajay Devgn was followed by Shah Rukh Khan and Tiger Shroff in such advertisements, while Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar had also faced criticism over endorsements in the past. “Pehle Ajay, fir Shah Rukh, Tiger. Amitabh aur Akshay ne kiya tha kuch aur, fir unhone maafi maangi (First Ajay Devgn, and then Shah Rukh Khan and Tiger Shroff. Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar also did something, but later they apologised),” Mukesh said.
Meanwhile, there has been an update on the Maharashtra FDA notices. According to reports, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff have submitted their responses to the department, while Shah Rukh Khan is yet to respond to the notice.
