'Pull this down' Hansal Mehta slams 'disgusting' ad featuring Rishabh Pant

The Dream11 advertisement featuring Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant has got filmmaker Hansal Mehta feeling let down. In the commercial, the wicketkeeper-batter can be seen trying his hands on classical singing while making fun of the genre. Slamming the ad, Hansal referred to it as "disgusting and insulting."

Rishabh Pant may be seen in the advertisement pondering what he would have done instead of playing cricket. The next scene has Rishabh in a fictitious classical singing role. However, instead of singing well, he adopts the wicket-keeper position in front of the microphones.

Taking to Twitter, Hansal wrote, "This is a disgusting and disrespectful commercial. Pimp yourself but not at the cost of ridiculing art and it’s rich traditions. I demand that @Dream11 pulls this down".

Replying to this tweet, writer Munish Bharadwaj said that while the ad was in bad spirit, it should not warrant for being taken down. 

"It's in bad taste. Sure. Agreed. But why pull it down? IMO, Freedom of expression should be absolute as long as it’s not inciting violence or harm to anyone. Also, art and its rich traditions will remain intact forever but silly ads like these will be forgotten in seconds," he wrote. 

Hansal replying to this said, "Sure Munish. You have every right to think so. I'm offended and I have a right to say so. Same FoS." 

He even added, "And yes maybe asking for it to be pulled down might be too much to ask. It's a way of telling advertisers to be sensitive and respectful - particularly of one tradition that, like sports, transcends race/religion/borders and is one of the greatest unifiers. Do not ridicule it."

Munish agreed and in reply wrote, "Yes. Can't argue with that. But we all agree that this is in extremely poor taste. Disgusting."

Talking about Hansal Mehta, the filmmaker is known for delivering critically acclaimed films such as Shahid, Aligarh, and others. He also made the hit Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story. 

As far as Rishabh Pant is concerned, the batter was part of the squad that traveled to Bangladesh, however, after a day in the country, he pulled out of the series. The reason for the same is not known.