Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s advertisement hurts Bengali sentiments, Kolkata lawyer files petition against actor

The Bengali population has not received well the Bengali version of a beverage advertisement starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui.  

Nawazuddin Siddique, a Bollywood actor involved in a custody dispute with his wife, Aaliya Siddiqui and a divorce proceeding has run into yet another legal issue. In a recent beverage campaign, he played the lead role of a man waiting for a train while holding a soft drink. The actor remains, and as he does, the bottle cracks a joke that makes him chuckle. He then takes a sip. Dibyayan Banerji, a lawyer in Kolkata, has accused Nawaz of hurting the Bengali community's feelings in a complaint.

According to a media outlet, Banerji notes in his petition that while the Hindi version of the commercial advertisement is acceptable to him, many Bengalis do not like the dubbed-Bengali version. The lawyer claims in his complaint that the ad makes a joke that has offended the "sentiments of the community." The mentioned joke is, "shoja anguley ghee na uthley, Bangali khali petey ghumiye porey (Bengalis sleep hungry if they don't get anything easily.)"

The joke is based on the Bengali proverb "Shoja anguley ghee na uthley, angul bekatey hoy," which means "If you can't achieve something simply, you have to go beyond it to achieve it." According to the media report, the lawyer has lodged a complaint per Sections 66A of the IT Act and 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He continued by saying that future promotions of such gimmicks should be avoided. 

Nawazuddin and his staff have not yet responded, although the brand apologised on social media. They expressed their regret in a statement that was written in Bengali, saying that they would "immediately withdraw this unintentional mistake from the Bengali media."