SRK, Ajay Devgn And Tiger Shroff Slapped With FDA Notices Over Vimal Elaichi Ad

Three of Bollywood's biggest names are facing regulatory trouble over an ad they shot together two years ago.

Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration has sent show-cause notices to Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, and Tiger Shroff, all tied to their 2024 campaign for Vimal Elaichi. The regulator's core allegation is straightforward but serious — it says the ad is essentially surrogate advertising for Vimal Pan Masala, a tobacco-linked product that's been banned for sale across Maharashtra.

The notices themselves are dated August 11, though they only became public knowledge this week. Delivery has been confirmed at some fairly recognizable addresses — Shah Rukh Khan's Mannat in Bandra, Ajay Devgn's home in Juhu, and Tiger Shroff's production office.

According to a nine-page notice reviewed by Indiablooms and reportedly issued by Maharashtra's Food Safety Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe, the Vimal Elaichi ad "prima facie" appears designed to promote the broader Vimal brand — a name that, in most consumers' minds, is inseparable from its pan masala product line. That's exactly the legal gray zone surrogate advertising is built around: using a brand name attached to a legal product (elaichi, a cardamom-based mouth freshener) to keep visibility alive for a banned or restricted one.

The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 doesn't leave much wiggle room here. Section 24(1) explicitly bars misleading or deceptive food advertisements, and violations can carry penalties running up to ₹10 lakh.

This isn't new territory for any of the three actors, honestly. Vimal and similar pan masala brands have run through a long list of A-list endorsers over the years — Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, and Priyanka Chopra have all faced similar scrutiny for comparable campaigns at various points. Public backlash has occasionally forced hands before; Akshay Kumar issued a public apology in a past controversy and stepped away from a tobacco-linked ad after online criticism piled up.

What makes this particular case notable is less the celebrities involved and more what it tests. India's food safety law wasn't really built with celebrity endorsement contracts and dual-purpose brand names in mind, and cases like this keep forcing the question of how far the law can actually reach when one brand name is quietly doing double duty for two very different products — one legal to advertise, one that isn't.

None of the three actors have issued a public statement on the notices as of this week.