Bollywood and controversies, these days go hand in hand. Karan Johar is the latest prey to a legal soup. Delhi government's health department has issued a legal notice to Karan Johar headed Dharma Production's reality show 'India's next superstars'. The notice was not only for the production house but also for judges KJo and Rohit Shetty, distributors and the owner of the private TV network for promoting tobacco on the national television. Dr S K Arora, Additional Director (Health) was quoted saying, "We have come to know that a huge and strategic display/promotion of Tobacco/ Pan Masala Brand 'Kamla Pasand' is being carried out at Star Plus Television Channel in the Reality show 'India's Next Superstars' being telecast through out India," as reported in NDTV. com.
He added, "This Promotion of Tobacco brand is a violation under sections 5 of COTPA 2003 as it is a surrogate advertisement of tobacco product Kamla Pasand Surti."
Well, this is not the first time that the filmmaker and his banner got into a legal mess. Earlier, the director was served notice under COTPA 2003 for promoting smoking on the posters of Sidharth Malhotra- Sonakshi Sinha- Akshaye Khanna starrer 'Ittefaq'. These posters were instantly taken off to ensure the smooth release of the flick. Dr. Arora also further pointed out that the audience of this reality show is majorly youngsters so these campaigns might hamper their mentality. Well, we hope that the production house re-checks their ad campaigns and posters before they finalize them as they do have serious implications! What is your take on this? Post them in the comments section below and watch this space for more updates.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 25, 2018 10:38 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).