Amitabh Bachchan sends legal notice to pan masala brand

Mumbai: Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan has sent a legal notice to pan masala brand Kamla Pasand as the company continues to air commercials featuring him despite termination of the contract.

Big B had withdrawn from the advertising campaign of the pan masala brand on his 79th birthday in October; weeks after the national anti-tobacco organisation had reportedly requested him to refrain from endorsing pan masala as it could help prevent youngsters from getting addicted to tobacco.

Sources from Big B’s office have confirmed to ANI that a legal notice has been sent to Kamla Pasand by the veteran actor’s team.

“Came to know from the office of Mr Bachchan, that legal notice has been sent to Kamla Pasand, to stop broadcasting the TV commercials with Bachchan immediately.. as it was noticed that despite termination of the endorsement agreement, Kamla Pasand has ignored the same and is seen to continue airing the TV commercials,” the sources told.

For the unversed, the ‘Don’ star himself revealed that he stepped down as the face of a paan masala brand, in a blog post shared on the occasion of his birthday.

The statement shared on his blog, which said “From the office of Amitabh Bachchan”, read, “Kamla Pasand … a few days after the commercial was aired, Bachchan contacted the brand and stepped out of it last week.”

“Upon checking why this sudden move – it was revealed that when Bachchan became associated with the brand, he wasn’t aware that it falls under surrogate advertising Bachchan has terminated the contract with the Brand, has written to them his termination and has returned the money received for the promotion,” the statement added.