Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar has been severely censured on social media for allegedly promoting dowry in his latest road safety ad sponsored by the Indian government.
The ad featuring Akshay Kumar was posted by Nitin Gadkari – the federal transport minister – on Twitter which showed the actor scolding a father for sending away his newly-wed daughter in a car that has just two airbags.
6 एयरबैग वाले गाड़ी से सफर कर जिंदगी को सुरक्षित बनाएं।#राष्ट्रीय_सड़क_सुरक्षा_2022#National_Road_Safety_2022 @akshaykumar pic.twitter.com/5DAuahVIxE
— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) September 9, 2022
While some social media users praised the ad for highlighting safety, others felt it promoted dowry by hinting that the car was given by the father, BBC News reported.
Paying and accepting dowry is a centuries-old tradition in South Asia where the bride’s parents gift cash, cars, clothes and jewellery to the groom’s family.
The practice is a punishable offence in India, but it continues to thrive – leaving women vulnerable to domestic violence and even death. Last year, a study found that dowry was paid in 95% of the marriages in the country even though it’s been illegal since 1961.
The ad featuring Kumar was first shared on Twitter last week and it has since been watched more than a million times.
It shows a teary eyed bride leaving with the groom as her family sees her off. The actor, who plays a policeman and a friend of the father, intervenes to say that the newly-wed couple would be a lot safer in a car with six airbags instead of just two.
Several people pointed out that the ad was ill-conceived as it promoted making dowry payments instead of encouraging road safety practices.
“This ad promotes dowry; [it] should be removed and banned immediately,” one social media user wrote on Twitter.
Another user wrote, “This ad is the pits. Lost the plot completely. Is this about the wedding, the bride or that dowry should be 6 airbag car-what is it? They couldn’t talk about safety any other way?”.
The campaign comes in the backdrop of a national conversation on road safety after the death of Indian billionaire Cyrus Mistry, who was killed in a car cash on 5 September. Some reports have suggested that he wasn’t wearing the seat belt in the rear seat of his car.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of people die in accidents on India’s roads – in 2021, the toll was more than 150,000, an average of 18 per hour, according to government data.