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Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui recently made news when he featured in a soft drink advertisement for the brand Sprite. A case was also filed against him and the CEO of the Indian division of Coca Cola for allegedly ‘hurting sentiments’ of the Bengali community. Breaking silence over the matter, Nawazuddin in a recent interview with Hindustan Times came out in support of the community.
Following the objection, Sprite India issued a statement, apologising for ‘unintentionally’ hurting the community. Nawazuddin who will be next seen in the film Jogi Sara Ra Ra, said, “They apologised, right? What more can I say?”
“It’s good to ensure that no person or community should be hurt. That was a dubbing. I had no dialogue. I see it as a good thing that the makers took it in a good way and apologised. The fact is no one should be hurt,” he briefly added.
While the brand faced no problem with its Hindi ad, the Bengali dubbing created controversy. The ad was originally shot in Hindi and promoted a new feature of the drink bottle where buyers can scan a given QR code to listen to jokes.
The clip starred Nawazuddin laughing at one of the jokes. In the Bengali one, the joke was ‘shoja anguley ghee na uthley, Bangali khali petey ghumiye porey’. The literally translation of the joke—if Bengalis don’t get anything easily, they prefer sleeping hungry. This did not go well down with many in the community.
Advocate Dibyayan Banerji who filed the complaint, called it a ‘shallow act and gimmicks’ before the Calcutta High Court. The ad has been pulled down from TV and social media platforms. The company in a written note emphasised respecting the Bengali language as well.
Nawazuddin was last seen in Afwaah, by Sudhir Mishra. While his next release in Jogi Sara Ra Ra with Neha Sharma, he has several films lined up in the pipeline. Adbhut, Tiku Weds Sheru, Noorani Chehra, Bole Chudiyan and Haddi are some of them which are slated to release back to back this year.
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