Prakash Jha takes a dig at Bollywood stars endorsing pan masala brands: ‘What are these legendary actors doing?’

Filmmaker-producer (and also actor) Prakash Jha recently targeted certain Bollywood actors for endorsing pan masala brands. He said that they don’t have any reason to care about the content of their films because they already have Rs 50 crore in their bank accounts after appearing in the pan masala advertisements. He questioned, “What are these legendary actors doing?”
In an interview with ETimes, the director said that there are five or six actors who will never work in one of his films because the are busy minting money from guthka ads. He said that this has a real impact on the public, and narrated a story about a school principal who had asked him, “What are you guys doing in the Mumbai film industry?” According to the principle, because of the big hoardings of stars endorsing pan masala brands, the children in the area had developed bad habits.

Jha then discussed the declining quality of recent films and said that a star will not bother about the content when he knows that he has already made Rs 400 crore after signing on to four films. Although, he said, “Anyway, an actor is not a content producer. It’s the writer and director. If that writer and director takes time then they can create something good.”
Talking about the boycott trends, the director said that when you have a good story to tell, there is no need to be bothered about any trends. He added, “You can’t make real films in the corporate world of films and TV. Sirf bakwaas banta hai.” He highlighted that when an actor makes three films a year, there is no time to work on the story, and said, “They get the rights to remakes. Nowadays they bring the director as well along with the remake rights.”

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— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) April 20, 2022
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Recently, Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan and Ajay Devgn were trolled for their appearance in an advertisement for a pan masala brand. The internet dug out an old video of Akshay saying how he will never do a guthka ad. The actor subsequently apologised to his fans, and said, “I would like to apologise to you, all my fans and well-wishers. Your reaction over the past few days has deeply affected me. While I have not and will not endorse tobacco, I respect the outpouring of your feelings in light of my association with Vimal Elaichi. With all humility, I step back.”