Petition filed against Big B for promoting superstitions

28 Mar 2014

While Amitabh Bachchan and the makers of his next film Bhoothnath Returns are engrossed in the throes of promoting their film, a social activist from Pune, Hemant Patil, has accused the actor of promoting superstitious beliefs, and filed a petition before a court seeking action against him.

In his petition, Patil has demanded a police complaint against Bachchan and others under the new Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifices and Other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013. The reason behind this petition being, Bachchan's recent portrayal of a ghost in a TV commercial for a children's health drink. According to Patil, the said advertisement promotes the belief in the existence of ghosts and spirits while simultaneously pursuing the need for magic to ward them off. Apart from this, Patil also contends that the health drink company released the TV commercial without adding an appropriate disclaimer before or after the broadcast that further adds to the damage caused.

In response to the petition filed, Mumbai magistrate Sita Kulkarni has placed the matter for hearing April 18.