'Lagaan' Actor Aditya Lakhia Reacts To The Backlash On Zomato's 'Kachra' Ad. Says, 'We Tried To Do Something Positive And It Just Took Another Turn'
After a huge round of discussions and backlash over Twitter, 'Lagaan' actor Aditya Lakhia has also spoken about the controversial 'Kachra' ad campaign by Zomato.
New Delhi: Food delivery app Zomato recently came under fire for its ad campaign that aimed to raise awareness against food wastage. The advertisement, on the occasion of World Environment Day, drew an analogy of kachra, which means 'garbage' in Hindi with a character from the 2001 film 'Lagaan', who had the same name. Following this ad campaign, Zomato has been slammed for its casteist overtones and eventually, the food delivery platform had to delete it.
The now-deleted video showed how waste can be recycled to make different household objects. And, to show trash’s use in the literal sense, the advertisement showed the human Kachra acting as recycled waste. We see Lakhia pose as a human stool and then cling on to a wall hook like a towel with a man even cleaning his nose on Lakhia’s sleeve.
After a huge round of discussions and backlash over Twitter, 'Lagaan' actor Aditya Lakhia has also spoken about it. Reacting to the backlash to the ad, Aditya said that "if it has hurt a section of people and if an apology is required then he’ll give it"
Aditya Lakhia told News18, "It’s banned toh it’s banned. Ab kya kar sakte hai (What can we do now)? It was supposed to be a positive concept, the way we all looked at it was Kachra promoting anti-plastic and to recycle garbage. But it took another turn. It became controversial so now it’s banned. That’s it. I don’t want to say anything further. We tried to do something positive and it just took another turn which we didn’t know it would."
"I did not anticipate something like this. None of us did. Abhi controversy ho gaya hai toh ho gaya hai (Now there has been controversy, nothing can be done about it). Now, Zomato has pulled it out also and they clarified. I would also say that if it has hurt a section of people and if an apology is required then I’ll give it. As an actor, what can I say.", he further added.
Aditya also discussed with News 18 how the ad came into being saying, "I was approached about 10 days back. It was a campaign, it was not for any money. So it was a positive campaign which obviously backfired. It was not meant to backfire. Now I’ll think twice before (signing an ad). (Advertisers) should put me as Aditya and not as Kachra. It can take a different turn altogether. I mean it would be okay if Kachra promotes a soft drink but it is not okay if Kachra says no to plastic. There is a thin line."
Speaking about Zomato, after deleting the ad, the food-delivery chain posted a note on Twitter saying, "On world environment day, our intent was to spread awareness about the potential of plastic waste and benefits of recycling in a humorous way. Unintentionally, we may have hurt the sentiments of certain communities and individuals. We have taken down the video."
On world environment day, our intent was to spread awareness about the potential of plastic waste and benefits of recycling in a humorous way.
— zomato (@zomato) June 8, 2023
Unintentionally, we may have hurt the sentiments of certain communities and individuals. We have taken down the video.
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