“Daane daane main hain kesar ka dum!”—uttering this tagline for Vimal Pan Masala in their advertisement seems to have landed Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, and Tiger Shroff in trouble. The Jaipur-II district consumer disputes redressal forum reportedly issued notices to the three actors to appear before it on March 19.
The notices to the three actors who feature in the ad, along with another one served to the chairman of Vimal Pan Masala maker JB Industries came as a result of a complaint filed against the claim that each grain of the pan masala contained saffron, a TOI report revealed.
According to the report, the consumer forum chairman Gyarsilal Meena, along with member Hemlata Agarwal, gave this order after hearing the complaint of Jaipur resident Yogendra Singh Badiyal.
Badiyal cited that JB Industries manufactures and supplies Vimal Pan Masala across the country, and the three actors were roped in to increase its sales through the ad for “Vimal Elaichi”. However, he alleged that the advertisement was misleading and claimed that each grain of the product contained saffron.
Badiyal noted that saffron cost ₹4 lakh per kg while the Vimal Elaichi came in a pouch priced at a mere ₹5. Forget about adding saffron, even the fragrance of saffron cannot be added to it, he reasoned.
Therefore, the actors aided in spreading false propaganda to benefit the manufacturer, TOI reported citing Badiyal’s complaint: “The manufacturing company is doing business worth crores of rupees and, on the other hand, the common people are inviting diseases like cancer by consuming the harmful and fatal combo of Pan Masala with tobacco known as gutkha. This mix, known as gutkha, is harmful to health, and the manufacturing company is also aware of this.”
Badiyal called for banning the advertisement. It is yet to be seen as to what the fallout of the orders would be, given that advertisements promoting chewing tobacco are banned in the country. As it stands now, the actors have not come out with a public statement.
Pan masala in India is a big industry—with a market estimated to be valued close to ₹50,000 crore. This growth is despite a unified ban on the production, advertising, and sale of gutkha (pan masala mixed with tobacco) from 2011 in all states of India.
Back in 2010, the Supreme Court of India highlighted part of the petition: “…to circumvent the ban on the sale of gutkha, the manufacturers are selling pan masala (without tobacco) with flavoured chewing tobacco in separate sachets but often conjoint and sold together by the same vendors in the same premises…”
The apex court issued orders to all state authorities to curtail such “twin pack” sales. The food safety departments (FSSAI) in these states took action, but the industry seems to have only grown—roping in A-listers to do advertisements for its non-tobacco products in packaging eerily and allegedly similar to their gutkha offerings.
