Rishabh Pant's Dream 11 ad draws flak from musicians; ‘You look like a fool’
Singer Kaushiki Chakraborty slammed Rishabh Pant and asked whether the money he received for the advertisement insulting Indian Classical Music was worth it.
An advertisement featuring cricketer Rishabh Pant has created a stir on social media after classical musicians Kaushiki Chakraborty, Purbayan Chatterjee issued statements expressing their strong disapproval of the advertisement which insulted Indian classical music, the artistes claimed. The advertisement was launched during T20 World Cup 2022.
In the Dream 11 advertisement, Rishabh Pant is shown as a failed musician had he not been a cricketer. "Thank God, I followed my dream," Rishabh Pant said in the Dream 11 advertisement.
Slamming Rishabh Pant for the advertisement and for "earning a fortune" by insulting Indian Classical Music, Kaushiki tweeted, "I don't have words to express my disgust and the ugliness of this commercial. Disrespecting your legacy makes you look like a fool, Rishabh Pant."
"This is the music of Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. I am sure you earn a fortune by doing this, but it is worth?" Kaushiki tweeted.
"I am practising Indian Classical Music and I don't follow cricket but I've never disrespected your field of work. When u haven’t been trained to understand something atleast be sensible enough to be respectful towards it. Making fun of your heritage makes you look like a fool," Kaushiki wrote.
Sitarist Purbayan Chatterjee issued a statement in which he said, "The advertisement portrayed Indian Classical Music in a comical and slightly disparaging light. I am shocked and pained to see this as this is not the first time this has happened. I feel this cannot be condoned. This is a great musical art form, greatly respected and revered and honoured across the world. And if you talk about the cricket fraternity, then legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar are great proponents of this art form."
