Akshay Kumar’s road safety campaign video lands in trouble, netizens slam actor for ‘promoting’ dowry

It seems Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar has courted controversy yet again. A recent public service advertisement on road safety starring the actor has struck the wrong chord with netizens.

In the one-minute-long ad, Akshay is seen with a father and his daughter during a ‘bidaai’ ceremony. The clip irked netizens who accused the ‘Atrangi Re’ actor of allegedly promoting dowry.

The video shows the bride seated in a car and her teary-eyed father is seen seeing her off. Akshay who plays a cop is seen telling the emotional father to send her in a car that has six airbags instead of just two airbags which is the present norm. The father immediately agrees to Akshay’s advice and in the next shot, the couple is seen smiling as they drive in a car with six airbags.

The ad was shared by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on his Twitter account. While the ad was intended to promote travelling in a vehicle with six airbags, the messaging did not go down well with netizens. Several users slammed the actor for indirectly promoting the system of dowry. The ad was labelled as sexist by many users.
Ironically, the ad comes a month after the release of the actor’s ‘Raksha Bandhan’ a film that focussed on dowry culture and where the actor had compared it to ‘extortion’ during the promotions of the film. The reactions ranged from terming the ad crass to calling it a campaign that lacked sensitivity.

"The ad about the bride’s car having just 2 airbags starring Akshay kumar is crass.. an obvious reference to Cyrus Mistry’s unfortunate accident. The subject of airbags can be treated with more sensitivity," wrote activist Dr Suman Sahai on her Twitter account.
This is not the first time Kumar was seen in a public service advertisement, earlier the actor was also seen in ads for anti-smoking and pro-sanitary napkin campaigns. In 2018, the actor also appeared in another road safety campaign by the transport ministry.

Earlier this year, after backlash and severe criticism over an ad campaign for paan masala, Kumar also apologised and stated that he was withdrawing his association with the company.