Advertisement for three superstars, one gutkha. the internet is not happy

As we speak, Rohit Shetty is expanding his cop universe on OTT. Sidharth Malhotra wears khaki in the new Amazon Prime Video series, Indian Police Force, Away from this world of police uniforms and 6-pack abs, the Vimal Universe is also expanding, painting the city Kesari, one spray at a time. In recent times, after OG Kesariya, Ajay Devgn and Shah Rukh Khan, Khiladi Kumar Akshay brought thin-dressed ladies with his parkour skills and laser-sharp swordsmanship in opening a pouch of this forbidden fruit.

It certainly is for Forbidden Fruit. Especially for Akshay Kumar, who has created a brand for himself as the complete opposite of all the vices of the world. Late night parties? Look at Akshay, he wakes up at 4 am and is on the set at 5 am. Smoking, alcohol, drugs? Teach Teach. No way. ‘Ek cigarette ke paisa se tum do zindagi khaad hai’ rings in our ears when the end credits of a film have arrived and we walk out of the theatres. Akshay also advocates for a naturally lean physique – no steroids, just exercise and a sattvic diet.

In such a situation, you can guess how much Akshay Kumar’s transition from Kesari to Jubaan Kesari has surprised his fans. Here, the voice of his heart breaking is echoing through Twitter.

But, there’s a catch. Vimal is a ‘pan masala’ and not a ‘gutka’. What’s the difference, you ask? One world and one swirl, all together. The first portal opens a portal to a diversity of possibilities, allowing a brand to advertise just about anything, without fear of state action. The latter is, well, prohibited. A similar line runs between ‘packaged mineral water’ and ‘beer’ or ‘whiskey’. Haywards 5000 or McDowells No 1, anyone?

Bollywood celebrities have forever tread this thin line to fill their coffers with unimaginable payouts. In a now-viral clip from 2018, Akshay Kumar himself revealed how gutkha companies offer an “countable sunwale amount” for an ad, but “I won’t do anything wrong for that”. Because, “what is wrong is wrong”!

Akshay finds himself in a particularly precarious place after the ad and this particular video was jointly shared by Twitterati. Because he couldn’t play cards like ‘I didn’t know about the surrogate ad’ Amitabh Bachchan did it last year when he was mercilessly trolled for supporting Paan Bahar, He refunded his advertising fee, asked the brand to remove any ad material containing Big B’s face, and apologized forever with anything ‘wrong’. Yet today when you sit to watch IPL, only advertisements play on TV. oh well

So did Akshay Kumar turn to Khatron Ke Khiladi and thus gamble with his image? A fat salary? The familiar feeling of being reunited with Ajay Devgn after the climax of Sooryavanshi, or Shah Rukh after Dil Toh Pagal Hai? Or is he trying to make up for the loss caused by Bachchan Pandey?, Doesn’t really matter, because Twitter knows you’ve lost the game, Khiladi Kumar.