A leading jewelry chain today withdrew a one-and-a-half minute long advertisement featuring megastar Amitabh Bachchan and his daughter Shweta Bachchan Nanda after it came under attack from a bank union which said it was aimed at creating 'distrust' in the banking system.
"We sincerely regret the inadvertent hurt caused and withdraw the advertisement from all media with immediate effect," Executive Director of Kalyan Jewellers, Ramesh Kalyanaraman said in a statement
He said, "we understand that the advertisement has hurt sentiments of some people including members of our esteemed banking community. Any such hurtful interpretation being drawn is unintended."
"We state that the creative advertisement was a work of fiction and not a reflection of banking employees at large.
Along with crores of Indians, we acknowledge the valuable contribution of the banking community to our country," the statement said.
All India Bank Officers' Confederation, an organization claiming to have membership of around 3,20,000 officers, last week threatened to sue Kalyan Jewellers accusing it of "casting aspersion and hurting the sentiments of millions of personnel" through the advertisement.
AIBOC general secretary Soumya Datta had alleged that the theme, tone and tenor of the Ad were "disgusting, derogatory, to say the least and is aimed to create distrust in the banking system, for pure commercial gain."
However, Kalyan Jewellers had rejected the allegation, saying it was "pure fiction."
The advertisement features Mr Bachchan as an old man and Shweta Bachchan Nanda as his daughter. Mr Bachchan, depicted as a person with integrity and honesty, is seen visiting a bank branch along with his daughter to return the extra money credited in his pension account and his bitter encounter with bank employees in the process.
"The advertisement portrays banks in bad light, casting aspersion, hurting the sentiment of millions of personnel, stakeholders and is a direct attempt to ruin the trust and confidence of billions of citizenries in banks," Datta had said.
Bachchan had tweeted the video of the ad, saying "Emotional moment for me.. tears welling up every time I see it.. daughters are the best !!"
OTT Releases This Week: Shekhar Home, Emily in Paris Season 4, Kaun Banega Crorepati Season 16, and More Meenakshi Seshadri On Why Actors Have Longer Innings In Showbiz: "They Don't Have To Factor In Childbirth, Pregnancy" Birthday Boy Fahadh Faasil With The "Two Pillars Of Indian Cinema" - Amitabh Bachchan And Rajinikanth Life On Earth Originates From One Ancestor, Older Than Previously Believed Cops Probing Conspiracy Angle Into Kolkata Hospital Vandalism: 5 Points Kolkata Rape-Murder: Fractures, 150 mg Semen, Other Claims Denied By Cops Centre Closely Monitoring Mpox Situation, No New Cases Reported MK Stalin Unveils Mega Industrial Housing For 18,000 Foxconn Women Workers "Effective Immediately": Elon Musk's X Closing Operations In Brazil Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.