Soundarya Sharma on her controversial pan masala ad with Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar: ‘I didn’t think too much’

She also explained that, at times, she needs to temporarily set aside her personal beliefs and thought processes to embrace opportunities that genuinely excite her. Soundarya highlighted the need to pause and reflect on one’s dreams and career choices. 

The actor continued, “Never thought of doing or promoting a wrong aspect of any brand or product. I was just very excited. Come on, you gotta be asking me if am I silly enough to say no to a thing where I can share screen space with people whom I have idolised as an actor. So that was what my only thought and I just wanted to be happy about the fact I didn’t think too much about it at that very moment.”

In 2022, Kumar received backlash for doing the ad with Ajay and Shah Rukh. He apologised to his fans and said he’d stop working with the brand. Recently, he had to explain himself again for appearing in a new ad. He reacted to a report which said, “Akshay returns as an ambassador of Vimal Pan Masala.” 

‘Returns’ as ambassador? Here’s some fact check for you Bollywood Hungama, if by chance you are interested in things other than fake news. These ads were shot on 13th October, 2021. I have not had anything to do with the brand ever since I publicly announced the discontinuation…

— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) October 9, 2023

He wrote on X, “Returns’ as ambassador? Here’s some fact check for you Bollywood Hungama, if by chance you are interested in things other than fake news. These ads were shot on 13th October, 2021. I have not had anything to do with the brand ever since I publicly announced the discontinuation of the endorsement. They can legally run the already shot ads till the end of next month. Chill and do some real news.”