Mukesh Khanna reveals scolding Akshay Kumar for endorsing 'pan masala' ad, bashes Shah Rukh Khan & Ajay Devgn

In recent times, we have seen netizens slamming Bollywood stars for promoting pan masala ads and due to this Akshay Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan also backed from these kinds of endorsement ads.

Now, veteran star Mukesh Khanna, who shared screen space with Akshay Kumar in his debut film revealed that he scolded the Khiladi star for getting associated with a pan masala brand.

“If you ask me, I should grab them and hit them. I even scolded Akshay Kumar, who is a health-conscious person. He says “Greetings” and then there’s Ajay Devgn, and now even Shah Rukh Khan has started. They spend crores of rupees on these ads, and what are they teaching people? They say, “We only promote paan masala, not tobacco,” but it’s the same thing—gutka is being sold under the same brand name. Everyone knew that the Kingfisher bottle ad was actually promoting Kingfisher beer. This is called deceptive advertising,” said Mukesh Khanna in an interview with Bollywood Bubble.

“Why do these people do this? Do they not have enough money? I’ve spoken up about this before; I said, “Don’t do it, sir. You already have plenty of money.” Some actors have retreated. Akshay has stepped back, and I even heard that Amitabh Bachchan ji also said he didn’t know it would be used this way, so he withdrew as well,” he added.

The actor continued and said, “But still, crores of rupees are spent on these open advertisements, where they are showing colourful ads and promoting “kesariya zubaan” (saffron-coloured tongue) while on the other hand, they are teaching people to consume gutka. Don’t do this. In my entire life, I have never promoted cigarettes, paan, or any harmful product. I’ve been offered these endorsements, with huge amounts of money, but I always refused. I will not promote something that is harmful. And I say to all the big actors, people look up to you and imitate you. Please don’t do this. You have such a huge influence; whatever you do, people will say, “If they do it, why shouldn’t I?”