Maharashtra FDA Issues Notices to Bollywood Stars Over Vimal Ad

In the Indian state of Maharashtra, there are officers whose job is to keep food and medicines safe.

They sent warning letters to three famous movie stars — Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff — about a commercial they made together.

The commercial is for Vimal Elaichi, a cardamom product.

Vimal is also the name of a brand of pan masala, a chewable product that is banned in Maharashtra because it can harm people's health.

The officers think the commercial is a sneaky way of advertising the banned pan masala without saying its name directly.

They say the words 'Vimal Elaichi' make people think of the banned Vimal Pan Masala brand, which could trick buyers.

The letters tell the stars to stop appearing in the commercial and to remove it from their social media pages.

The stars have 15 days to explain themselves and must share their contracts, payment details and proof that they checked the ad.

If the advertisement is found misleading, the stars could be fined up to Rs 50 lakh and banned from making commercials for up to three years.

Years ago, another famous actor, Akshay Kumar, apologised after criticism over a similar Vimal Elaichi advertisement.