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Journalism of Courage
The National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication(NOTE) has said it will continue the legal process against actor Amitabh Bachchan, even though he has apologised for appearing in an advertisement that showed him smoking.
“I am deeply apologetic for the advertisement that has hurt the sentiments of the people at large and of organisations such as yours,” Bachchan said in a letter to NOTE general secretary Shekhar Salkar. But Salkar said the case would continue. In his apology, Bachchan said he had nothing to do with the advertisement which showed a still from his movie Family.
“Anchor appears to haven taken undue liberty while using the still from the film carrying my image. It appears that DMS Films Pvt Limited, the co-producers who are exclusively handling the publicity of the film have entered into some arrangements with Anchor to share publicity costs,” Bachchan said.
“I have made a note of anti-tobacco legislation and have informed my producers and told them to take immediate steps so that no such violation takes place as far as I am concerned,” he said. Salkar said he was happy with Bachchan’s response. “I am happy that Bachchan has personally replied to our letter but we want this fight to be taken to its logical end. We will wait for a legal reply from Bachchan till Monday, failing which we will file a writ petition in the high court.”
