Complaint filed against Nawazuddin Siddiqui for 'hurting Bengali sentiments' in a beverage ad

Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui has landed in yet another controversy. A case has been registered against him and CEO of the Indian division of Coca Cola for allegedly 'hurting sentiments' of the Bengali community.

A Kolkata-based lawyer objected to the Bengali version of the new Sprite ad and said, ‘The main advertisement by Coca-Cola for its product Sprite was in Hindi. And we have no problems with that. We only have a problem with Bengali dubbing of the ad which is running on various TV channels and websites. Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui is laughing at one of the jokes, which says, ‘shoja anguley ghee na uthley, Bangali khali petey ghumiye porey’. In English, it means that if Bengalis don’t get anything easily, they sleep hungry. And this, we think, hurts the sentiments of the Bengali community.’

The petitioner further said, ‘There is nothing offensive in the Hindi advertisement. But it attracts section 66A of the IT Act and also section 153 A of the Indian Penal Code. We also want this type of shallow act and gimmicks to not be promoted in the future.’

The company has pulled down the Bengali version of the ad after the complaint. On Twitter, Sprite India wrote in Bengali, ‘We deeply regret our recent Bengali ad campaign for Sprite and are withdrawing this unintentional mistake from the Bengali media immediately. Our company gives due respect to the Bengali language and takes pride in platforms like Coke Studio Bangla, which attaches great importance to the respect and prestige of our Bengal. We are committed to preserving respect and the heritage of the state through our service, new investments, CSR, and social consciousness.’

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