Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has terminated his contract with a pan masala brand, saying that he wasn’t aware that it ‘falls under surrogate advertising’.

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“Kamala Pasand … a few days after the commercial was aired, Mr Bachchan contacted the brand and stepped out of it last week . Upon checking why this sudden move – it was revealed that when Mr Bachchan became associated with the brand , he wasn’t aware that it falls under surrogate advertising Mr Bachchan has terminated the contract with the Brand, has written to them his termination and has returned the money received for the promotion,” reads the statement.

This comes after he had been requested by a national anti-tobacco organization to withdraw himself from the ad campaign, which promoted pan masala, saying that it would stop youngsters from getting addicted to tobacco. His fans had also criticised the move.

Earlier, a letter had been addressed to Amitabh Bachchan and Shekhar Salkar, President National Organization For Tobacco Eradication, stating that pan masala impacts the health of citizens, reports The New Indian Express. 

It also added that since Big B is the government brand ambassador for the pulse polio campaign, he should drop out of pan masala ads immediately.

“As an oncologist and member of an NGO working in the field of tobacco cessation, I am aggrieved and provoked to wage war against the dubious measures, such embellishment done by various influential and famous Bollywood actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, Ranveer Singh and Hrithik Roshan, leading to increased tobacco use among students,” the letter read.

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The superstar had also responded to a fan asking him why he chose to endorse the brand. He said, “If some people are getting benefits from an industry, we should not think as to ‘why am I getting associated with it?’ If it is an industry, then we too should think of it as our industry. Now, you may think that I should not be doing it, but I get paid for it.”

The actor is celebrating his 79th birthday today. 

Talking about his most memorable birthday moment, he told Bollywood Hungama that there two such memories.

“If you will insist on me putting a finger on it there will be two. One, after my accident in 1982, when my father traditionally recited the poem he had written for me and breaking down while reciting it. It was a rare sight. I never saw him move to tears on any occasion.

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“But Oct 11, 1982, was a date many felt I would not be alive to witness. Those were the feelings that the poem expressed and it was far too emotional for my father to bear. The second most memorable birthday was my 60th birthday and the effort that Jaya made in making it memorable for me. The book she brought out, ‘To B or not to B’, and the labour that went into it, the arrangements and detailing she did in celebrating the evening with the friends and fans at a party she organised single handed,”