Actor Mohanlal under attack for appearing in gold ad
Superstar Lieutenant Colonel Mohanlal, who fought several villains in reel life, is drawing flak from social activists in real life. His fault: He appeared in a gold advertisement wearing a military dress. The incident infuriated Dr. Sukumar Azheekkode, a prominent Malayalam writer, orator and cultural activist. He accused actor Mohanlal of misusing the military dress in an advertisement that appeared in several local newspapers on the Independence Day of 2009 for Malabar Gold — a jewellery network.
“Mohanlal was offered the rank of Lieutenant Colonel by territorial army just because he acted in a few films as army officer. And now he uses his uniform to sell jewellery,” alleges Azheekkode.
Mohanlal catapulted to fame in 2009 when he was granted the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. His die-hard fans in Kerala had welcomed the move because this was for the first time in Indian cinema that an actor got such recognition for his stellar performance in the film Keerthichakra (which portrayed the Army’s anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir). Besides, he has also acted in Kurukshetra (which dealt with the Kargil War). He is an iconic figure in Kerala. That is why the chairman of the Malabar Gold A. P. Ahmmed is unperturbed by his criticism. He says Mohanlal has been our brand ambassador for the last six years and he has never done anything to hurt people’s sentiments. “He had appeared in military uniform for our advertisement on the Independence Day. So what is wrong in it,” he says. Ahmmed asked protesters not to make a mountain out of a molehill.
But Azheekkode is in no mood to back down. Calling it an “anti-national activity,” he wants Mohanlal to apologise for misusing the military uniform. He claims to have also spoken to Defense Minister A. K. Antony regarding the critical issue. He tells TSI that the defense minister had even called him and received his complaint. But all these are having no impact on Mohanlal as he has refused to air his comment on the issue. For the time being, he is maintaining a low profile in the hope that the controversy would peter out.
Azheekkode is also opposing the state government’s move to nominate Mohanlal as the brand ambassador to promote khadi products. “A person who endorses liquor (in an advertisement for a liquor company) is now promoting khadi products. This is an insult to Mahatma Gandhi,” says Azhikode, who is a Gandhian. Both Azhikode and Mohanlal have not been on speaking terms for a long time. Relationship between them turned sour after Azhikode had sided with veteran actor Thilakan whose outburst against Mohanlal had led to his suspension from the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA), organisation of film actors.
The incident has not dented Mohanlal’s popularity in the state.
Superstar Lieutenant Colonel Mohanlal, who fought several villains in reel life, is drawing flak from social activists in real life. His fault: He appeared in a gold advertisement wearing a military dress. The incident infuriated Dr. Sukumar Azheekkode, a prominent Malayalam writer, orator and cultural activist. He accused actor Mohanlal of misusing the military dress in an advertisement that appeared in several local newspapers on the Independence Day of 2009 for Malabar Gold — a jewellery network.
“Mohanlal was offered the rank of Lieutenant Colonel by territorial army just because he acted in a few films as army officer. And now he uses his uniform to sell jewellery,” alleges Azheekkode.
Mohanlal catapulted to fame in 2009 when he was granted the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. His die-hard fans in Kerala had welcomed the move because this was for the first time in Indian cinema that an actor got such recognition for his stellar performance in the film Keerthichakra (which portrayed the Army’s anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir). Besides, he has also acted in Kurukshetra (which dealt with the Kargil War). He is an iconic figure in Kerala. That is why the chairman of the Malabar Gold A. P. Ahmmed is unperturbed by his criticism. He says Mohanlal has been our brand ambassador for the last six years and he has never done anything to hurt people’s sentiments. “He had appeared in military uniform for our advertisement on the Independence Day. So what is wrong in it,” he says. Ahmmed asked protesters not to make a mountain out of a molehill.
But Azheekkode is in no mood to back down. Calling it an “anti-national activity,” he wants Mohanlal to apologise for misusing the military uniform. He claims to have also spoken to Defense Minister A. K. Antony regarding the critical issue. He tells TSI that the defense minister had even called him and received his complaint. But all these are having no impact on Mohanlal as he has refused to air his comment on the issue. For the time being, he is maintaining a low profile in the hope that the controversy would peter out.
Azheekkode is also opposing the state government’s move to nominate Mohanlal as the brand ambassador to promote khadi products. “A person who endorses liquor (in an advertisement for a liquor company) is now promoting khadi products. This is an insult to Mahatma Gandhi,” says Azhikode, who is a Gandhian. Both Azhikode and Mohanlal have not been on speaking terms for a long time. Relationship between them turned sour after Azhikode had sided with veteran actor Thilakan whose outburst against Mohanlal had led to his suspension from the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA), organisation of film actors.
The incident has not dented Mohanlal’s popularity in the state.
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