Mumbai 21 August : In the wake of Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan’s most recent food delivery service Zomato’s commercial sparked controversy over religion and the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has accused the actor and Zomato’s food delivery app of “misleading and deceiving people” in the commercial.CAIT also wrote to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to request the government to take action against Hrithik and Zomato.
The actor is believed to have sparked religion in the commercial where he is quoted as saying that he wanted to have”thali” in Ujjain and, as a result, he places an order with Mahakal.
CAIT stated in an announcement: “The Prasad Thali of Mahakal is served for free for centuries, but in the specified area of the temple’s premises only.There is no way of offering Prasad Thali to anyone outside the temple.”
The Mahakaleshwar or Mahakal temple of Shiva in Ujjain is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas, and it draws hundreds of thousands of devotees from all over India.In the past, the temple’s priests of the temple suggested that Zomato should stop the advertisement as soon as possible and offer an apology.
In response to the CAIT statement, Zomato noted that the advertisement “which was aired in specific pincodes of Ujjain mentioned the thalis at ‘Mahakal Restaurant’, but not the renowned Shree Mahakaleshwar Temple”.
Mahakal Restaurant, Zomato pointed out, “is one of our restaurants with the highest volume of orders in Ujjain and the thali is a popular item on the menu”.
The statement from the company reads: “The video is part of an India-wide campaign for which we’ve identified the best local eateries and their best dishes based on their popularity in every city.
“Mahakal Restaurant” (simplified as “Mahakal”) was one of the restaurants selected as part of the campaign in Ujjain.
“We are deeply influenced by the beliefs of the Ujjain residents.
of Ujjain and the advertisement in the dispute is no longer in operation.We sincerely apologize as the intention this was not to hurt anyone’s beliefs or opinions.”
In its statement, however, CAIT alleged that the incident demonstrates “the way in the way companies that are supported by foreign direct investment (FDI) make fun of the law and the law”.
The focus is on Hrithik.CAIT National President B.C.Bhartia as well as Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal have pointed out that celebrities “take enormous quantities of money and can become an integral part of the sales force of the company”.
They also added: “They cannot deny their responsibility and, therefore, action should also be taken against actor Hrithik Roshan who was involved in the commercial without checking the contents.This proves that earning money is the primary requirement of brand ambassadors as well as stars.”
CAIT has also called for an investigation into the amount of orders that Zomato received after the publication of the advertisement as well as which locations the orders were processed in the attire of Mahakal Prasad Thali.
It should be mentioned that the commercial in the issue was shot long in the back with the names and variations of the various eateries in the original dubbed Zomato advertisement to enhance the credibility of Zomato’s food delivery application.
It’s the second time in which Hrithik has stepped into the edge of a minefield.In the past, Hrithik supported Aamir Khan’s “Laal Singh Chaddha’ against the trend of boycotts on Twitter.This resulted in boycotts being made for Hrithik’s next film with Saif Ali Khan”Vikram Vedha’.
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