New Delhi: Ranveer Singh was recently featured in an ad for men's health, in which he collaborated with adult star Johnny Sins. The commercial pokes fun at the overdramatised manner of Indian television programmes. The commercial caused quite a stir online, but television actress Rashami was unimpressed by it. She sent a lengthy letter complaining that the advertisement was a "slap."
Ranveer Singh and Johnny Sins’ ad features dialogues and sound effects in an attempt to mock Hindi serials which Rashami finds offensive. For the unversed, Rashami had her big break with the Hindi TV serial ‘Uttaran’ after delving into the regional film industries.
She expressed her disapproval in an Instagram story. Rashami wrote, “I’ve started my work from a regional film industry. And then started working in television industry. People call it a small screen. Where normal people watch news, cricket, all the Bollywood films also and much more. After watching this reel, which is highly unexpected, I felt it’s a humiliation to all the TV industry and people who work in television.”
She went ahead and labelled the advertisement as the "slap." Rashami added, “Coz we always made feel smaller and treated like one. Actors really wanna work on big screen too, this is exactly how we get treated. Everyone is working hard. But I’m sorry, TV show pe sab nahi dikhate (People don’t show it). This all happens on big screen. And nothing wrong in showing some reality but this is really check for all the TV industry coz I feel it’s a slap. May be I’m over reacting but we show culture and love to our audience. And I’m hurt coz I have a respectful journey in TV industry. Hope you’ll will understand the emotion.”
On Monday, Ranveer shared the ad on Instagram, and his fellow actors were quick to praise him. Despite Rashami Desai's criticism, Other TV personalities seemed unfazed by the ad's comedic spin on traditional Indian television programmes.
What is your take on Ranveer Singh’s new ad?