Akshay Kumar’s ‘The Entertainers’ Promo: Is The Outrage Warranted?”

Piali Dasgupta Feb 13, 2023

A few days ago, actor Akshay Kumar posted the promo of his North American tour slated for March 2023 on his social media handles. The promo shows him along with actors Norah Fatehi, Disha Patani, Mouni Roy and Sonam Bajwa, walking on a revolving globe – from India to North America.

Soon after the video was posted, netizens expressed their anger towards the actor for walking on the map of India. His Instagram comments section and Twitter feed were filled with comments from people calling him everything from “desh drohi” to “arrogant” and taunting him about his Canadian citizenship.

Kumar joined a slew of celebrities including Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar, and Sania Mirza who have courted controversy for a similar offence in the past – disrespecting the tricolour.

Now, I am no Akshay Kumar fan and don’t even remember the last time I watched any of his films. I met the man once, many moons ago, as a journalist, at an event in Bangkok. And that has been my only association with the actor.

But what I will say is that he is not a “deshdrohi” and cannot be labelled one only because he walked on a digitally created revolving globe, from India to the US.

And here’s why I say this.

Kumar has, over the years, been one of the few Bollywood stars to have stepped forward and donated money and resources whenever the country has been in the midst of a crisis. Whether it was the covid crisis in March 2020, when he donated a massive sum of Rs 25 crores to help India fight the virus, or donating to those affected by the floods in Kerala, Assam, Chennai, or even donating to build a home for the marginalised section of the society like transgenders and acid attack survivors.

In 2015, when farmer suicides became rampant in drought-affected Maharashtra, he donated money to about 180 farmer families whose main breadwinners had committed suicide.

And in August 2017, around the week of Independence Day, he set up Bharat Ke Veer – a fund-raising initiative, to raise money for the families of the members of the paramilitary forces. The actor managed to raise Rs 1.5 crores for the families of martyrs within 72 hours of launching the initiative.

So, there’s a lot that he has done for the country and the countrymen, something which cannot be said for many of his superstar colleagues. His heart surely is in the right place.

The actor does a lot of endorsements and earns millions, yes. But he also donates generously and often very quietly, whenever people are in distress. He has also been the highest taxpayer from the entertainment industry last year.

As far as The Entertainers’ promo is concerned, it is perhaps a result of poor foresight and judgement, at the creative director's and the production house’s end. This is not to say that the actor can be absolved of his responsibilities. Kumar too should have deliberated upon how a video of this nature would be received by his fans on social media.

There surely could have been a better way to depict the fact that the actor was travelling from India to the USA for the trip.

Showing the map of India, and making the actors walk on it, was needless, given the general sentiment around the Indian flag or the India map.

One understands that it certainly wasn’t done deliberately to hurt nationalistic sentiments but was one of those oversights that people pay a hefty price for.

A bit of sensitivity could have gone a long way, particularly in a day and age when everyone, and particularly celebrities are under constant scanner, thanks to social media.

Actors have always been a soft target, and in this case, Akshay Kumar, with his Canadian citizenship, was an easy target.

People are quick to judge and be dismissive on social media, and often it takes a few negative comments for things to snowball into something bigger. That’s what happened in this case.

Given that Kumar’s next film is scheduled to release later in February, perhaps an apology from his end could have helped matters. But the actor has not reacted yet, perhaps hoping that things would die down organically.

While nationalistic sentiments could have been ruffled, it was perhaps unwarranted to label an actor who has always stood by his country and served the nation in his own way, unpatriotic.