Kalyan Jewellers apologizes, withdraws advertisement featuring Amitabh Bachchan

The controversial advertisement, featuring veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan and his daughter Shweta Bachchan-Nanda, has been withdrawn by Kalyan Jewellers after it was opposed by a bank union for allegedly showing bank employees in poor light. The jewellery chain has also tendered an apology.

In a statement, Kalyan Jewellers has stated that their intention was not to hurt the banking community. “We understand that the advertisement has hurt sentiments of some people including members of our esteemed banking community. Any such hurtful interpretation being drawn is unintended. We state that the creative advertisement was a work of fiction and not a reflection of banking employees at large,” the statement read.

They also said the company regrets making the advertisement and, therefore, agrees to remove it from all platforms. “We sincerely regret the inadvertent hurt caused and withdraw the advertisement from all media with immediate effect,” the statement further read.

In the one-and-a-half minute long advertisement, Shweta plays daughter to a retired man (Amitabh). They visit a bank in a small town. The bank employees assume he has come to ask for pension and behave rudely. The father-daughter duo, finally, meet the manager and it is then revealed that the old man has walked in to return the extra amount that was credited to him by mistake.

Last week, the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBC) slammed the advertisement. Soumya Datta, the secretary of the organization, said that the advertisement is “disgusting, derogatory, to say the least and is aimed to create distrust in the banking system, for pure commercial gain.”

In the same statement he said, “The advertisement portrays banks in bad light, casting aspersion, hurting the sentiment of millions of personnel, stakeholders and is a direct attempt to ruin the trust and confidence of billions of citizenries in banks.”

This was the first time Shweta Bachchan Nanda faced the camera. Amitabh had shared the advertisement on his Twitter page last week, with an emotional tweet that read, “T 2870 - Emotional moment for me .. tears welling up every time I see it .. daughters are the BEST !!”