Amitabh Bachchan, Shweta Nanda’s controversial ad withdrawn after bank union threatens action

Jewellery brand Kalyan Jewellers has withdrawn a controversial advertisement featuring Amitabh Bachchan and his daughter, Shweta Nanda. The ad had been criticised by a banking union for allegedly depicting banks in a negative light. The TVC was Shweta Bachchan’s screen debut.

In a statement to NDTV, Kalyan Jewellers executive director Ramesh Kalyanaraman said, “We sincerely regret the inadvertent hurt caused and withdraw the advertisement from all media with immediate effect. We understand that the advertisement has hurt sentiments of some people including members of our esteemed banking community. Any such hurtful interpretation being drawn is unintended. We state that the creative advertisement was a work of fiction and not a reflection of banking employees at large. Along with crores of Indians, we acknowledge the valuable contribution of the banking community to our country.”

Following the release of the ad, All India Bank Officers’ Confederation, an organisation that claims to have over 3 million members, threatened to sue Kalyan Jewellers for “casting aspersion and hurting the sentiments of millions of personnel”.

The brand rejected the allegation, saying it was “pure fiction.” “We understand that your esteemed association feels that the bankers have been portrayed in bad light. We state it on record that it is a pure fiction and at no point we have intended to generalize the bank officers at large,” Kalyan jewellers said in a letter to AIBOC general secretary Soumya Datta.

In the ad, Amitabh, who plays a pensioner, is accompanied by his daughter to the bank, where they encounter unprofessional employees. All he wants to do is to return the extra money credited to his account but is faced with hurdles.

Follow @htshowbiz for more