President Murmu urges stars to avoid harmful brand ads as Maharashtra targets actors

President Droupadi Murmu has called on artists and popular public figures to promote healthy lifestyles and avoid endorsing products that harm public health. The remarks were made on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, at the 72nd National Film Awards in Gujarat.

Maharashtra Action

The presidential appeal coincides with an ongoing review by the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration to determine if the Vimal Elaichi campaign constitutes surrogate advertising for Vimal Pan Masala. The state body has issued show-cause notices to actors Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff, pointing out that the advertisements link to a pan-masala product whose manufacturing, storage, transport, distribution and sale are banned in Maharashtra.

Court and Past Cases

Legal challenges have also emerged regarding the notices. On September 14, the Delhi High Court refused to hear a petition challenging the FDA action on grounds of territorial jurisdiction, directing the petitioner to approach the appropriate court in Maharashtra without ruling on whether the ads count as surrogate advertising. Other Bollywood actors including Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Akshay Kumar have faced scrutiny for similar endorsements in the past, with Kumar stepping away from a Vimal campaign in 2022 following backlash.

Expert Reactions

Public health experts and cancer specialists argue that celebrity endorsements lend social approval to items linked with tobacco and areca nuts. Arun Gupta, convener of Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest, stated that voluntary self-regulation is ineffective and urged the government to pass strict laws banning the marketing of unhealthy goods including tobacco and ultra-processed foods. Sandeep Nayak, a surgical oncologist at KIMS Hospitals in Bengaluru, warned that famous icons glamorize cancer-causing products for young people, noting that brand extensions using identical names, logos and colors for items like mouth fresheners create direct links to banned primary brands.

Health Data

Data from the National Family Health Survey-5 covering 2019 to 2021 shows that 21.4% of Indians aged 15 to 49 use smokeless tobacco, with men at 29.6% and women at 12.8%. Furthermore, the Global Adult Tobacco Survey from 2016 to 2017 found that 28.6% of people aged 15 and above use tobacco. A World Health Organisation study estimated the economic cost of tobacco-related diseases and premature deaths at 1.77 lakh crore rupees in 2017 and 2018, which is over 1% of the GDP. Additionally, the International Agency for Research on Cancer reported that smokeless tobacco and areca-nut use caused more than 120,000 oral cancer cases worldwide in 2022, with 88% happening in South-Central Asia.