Hansal Mehta criticises commercial featuring Rishabh Pant; Calls it ‘disgusting and disrespectful’

Hansal Mehta has been trending in the news after he criticized an advertisement featuring cricketer Rishabh Pant. The filmmaker shared his view on Twitter and called it disgusting and disrespectful for making a mockery of classical music. In the advertisement, Rishabh is seen portraying a classical musician and cracking his funny bone. However, it looks like it didn’t go down well with Hansal Mehta. He retweeted the ad and expressed his disappointment.

‘Ridiculing art’

He tweeted, “This is a disgusting and disrespectful commercial. Pimp yourself but not at the cost of ridiculing art and it’s rich traditions. I demand that @Dream11 pulls this down.” The ad shows Rishabh Pant imagining what he would have become if not a cricketer. It then shows Rishabh as a classical singer.

Reacting to Mehta’s tweet, the author Munish Bharadwaj wrote, “It’s in bad taste. Sure. Agreed. But why pull it down? IMO, Freedom of expression should be absolute as long as it’s not inciting violence or harm to anyone. Also, art and its rich traditions will remain intact forever but silly ads like these will be forgotten in seconds,”

Hansal Mehta’s work

Hansal is known for the web series Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story. His upcoming film is an untitled project with Kareena Kapoor. The highly anticipated project is touted to be a crime thriller that revolves around a murder investigation. Kareena Kapoor Khan is playing the central character, a detective who investigates a mysterious murder in the film. The project is jointly produced by Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ekta Kapoor, and director Hansal Mehta under the banners Balaji Motion Pictures and Mahana Films.