From Javed Akhtar to Kangana Ranaut, Bollywood reacts to Tanishq advertisement

The recent turn of events after Indian jewellery brand Tanishq posted an advertisement and then pulled it back have really kept the internet abuzz. While some find the advertisement in not so good taste, others stand by the brand for its messaging.

The advert shows a Hindu South Indian girl married into a Muslim family celebrate her baby shower with in-laws. Some factions of the public found the ad promoting “love-jihad” while others support it, calling it an ad that promotes “brotherhood” and “unity”.

After a severe criticism on the first day of the ad going live, the brand pulled down the ad and issued a statement: “The idea behind the Ekavatam campaign is to celebrate the coming together of people from different walks of life, local communities and families during these challenging times and celebrate the beauty of oneness. This film has stimulated divergent and severe reactions, contrary to its very objective. We are deeply saddened with the inadvertent stirring of emotions and withdraw this film keeping in mind the hurt sentiments and well being of our employees, partners and store staff.”

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pic.twitter.com/OyjAyld6Wp — Tanishq (@TanishqJewelry) October 13, 2020

Now, many actors from Bollywood have responded to the ad. The first of them was Divya Dutta who happens to have also lent her voice for the advertisement. She supported the ad and tweeted: “It's sad, it's taken off air”.

Kangana Ranaut accused the brand of not only supporting “love-jihad” but also being “sexist” as according to her, the woman is seen as coy and shy. She wrote, “The concept wasn’t as much a problem as the execution was,the fearful Hindu girl apologetically expressing her gratitude to her in-laws for the acceptance of her faith, Isn’t she the woman of the house? Why is she at their mercy? Why so meek and timid in her own house? Shameful.” Actor Richa Chadha, on the other hand, found the ad “beautiful”.

The concept wasn’t as much a problem as the execution was,the fearful Hindu girl apologetically expressing her gratitude to her in-laws for the acceptance of her faith, Isn’t she the woman of the house? Why is she at their mercy? Why so meek and timid in her own house? Shameful. https://t.co/LDRC8HyHYI — Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) October 12, 2020

Sad lack of spine.. and conviction. Numerous women (and men) get death threats on social media on a daily basis.. they stand up to it. Unfortunate that a large corporate conglomerate is unable to gather the courage (and resources) to withstand a few days of trolling! 🙄 #tanishq https://t.co/PBDPVlRxZe — Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) October 14, 2020

“Such a massive company, such a fragile spine,” wrote actor Swara Bhasker on Twitter after the advertisement was pulled down while author Chetan Bhagat commented, “Dear #tanishq, most people attacking you can’t afford you anyway. And given where their thinking will take this economy, they soon won’t have jobs and hence definitely won’t able to buy anything from #tanishq in the future too. Don’t worry about them.”

Javed Akhtar, meanwhile, wrote, "Whether it is a film, an advertisement or a real-life marriage everywhere, an inter-religious marriage always disturbs some people, in which the girl side is always agitated or related to it, this outrage is based on the belief that women are like their property. Angry people see the bride and her family as cattle thieves of a village".