Legal trouble has found Indian actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui as a Kolkata-based lawyer named Dibyayan Banerji filed a petition against him for offending the sentiments of Bengalis in a commercial for the international beverage brand Sprite.
The lawyer wrote that he had no problem with the Hindi version of the ad, but the Bengali-dubbed version did not sit well with him and many Bengalis.
In the ad, Siddiqui laughs at a joke that says in Bengali, “Shoja anguley ghee na uthley, Bangali khali petey ghumiye porey,” which translates to Bengalis sleeping hungry if they don’t get anything easily. This line, based on the popular Bengali idiom “Shoja anguley ghee na uthley, angul bekatey hoy,” which translates to if you can’t achieve something simply, you have to go beyond it to achieve it, was not well-received by Bengalis.
The ad was removed from TV and social media platforms and Sprite India posted an apology in Bengali, stating their deep regret for the ad campaign’s mistake, withdrawing it from Bengali media immediately.