Pierce Brosnan, 64, is an Irish and naturalised American actor of James Bond fame. Lately, he has been a passionate environment activist, supporting a healthy planet where all species can inhabit in peace.

He is, however, not in the news in India about his acting acumen, but for being embroiled in a controversy over his appearance in an advert for a pan masala brand.

Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, professor and head and neck surgeon at Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, castigated him via a letter for promoting “flavoured areca nut” or supari or betel nut, which is a carcinogen and confirmed cancer-causing substance. The controversy has snowballed since.

At the very onset, it needs to be clarified that Brosnan is not the only celebrity, though perhaps the only foreigner, to be part of such an advert.

Shah Rukh Khan endorsed Pan Vilas Silver Dews while Priyanka Chopra promoted Rajnigandha Silver Pearls, Govinda endorsed Pan E Shahi Pan Masala, Saif Ali Khan appeared for Pan Bahar Pan Masala, Akshay Kumar for Baba Elaichi and Ajay Devgn for Vimal Pan Masala, among others. The list is long.

In November 2015, a local court in Thane directed the police to inquire into a complaint filed against Devgn, who’s a health freak himself, seeking to book him under charges including culpable homicide not amounting to murder, for promoting pan masala on television.

An FIR was registered. Needless to say, despite the court intervention, not much was done.

Now, the criticism is that Brosnan is an easy target of global appeal, while a host of Indian megastars have been let off for the same offence.

But, before we get into the row of selective targeting of a foreign celebrity, let’s see what the law says.

According to food safety regulations in India, “there shall be no advertisement of any food which is misleading or contravening the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006”.

Also, the Indian Penal Code clearly states “whoever sells, or offers or exposes for sale, as food or drink, any article which has been rendered or has become noxious, or is in a state unfit for food or drink, knowing or having reason to believe that the same is noxious as food or drink, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.”

Since children are most vulnerable to direct or indirect promotion of tobacco, Section 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act makes it an offence against a child if “a person gives or causes to be given, to any child any intoxicating liquor or any narcotic drug or tobacco products or psychotropic substance, except on the order of a duly qualified medical practitioner”.

In his long and scathing letter to Brosnan, Dr Chaturvedi asks: “Why did you endorse a harmful product?” He educates the Hollywood star that nearly 200 million Indians chew tobacco, making India the “mouth cancer capital” of the world.

It also causes other serious ailments like tuberculosis and influenza and tobacco addiction kills every third user prematurely; 1 million Indians die every year and 1 billion people in the world have perished due to use of tobacco in this century.

Brosnan was confronted with an existential question: “Will James Bond want to break this law by promoting the surrogate of tobacco?” Dr Chaturvedi also gave him some advice: “Why don’t you use your charisma for tobacco control?”

Dr Chaturvedi disagrees that Brosnan has been hounded selectively. Perhaps the media is to be blamed for selectively highlighting his name, since Dr Chaturvedi confirmed to The Patriot that he has written similar letters to Sunny Leone, Shah Rukh Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn and others.

While Leone immediately stopped being part of such adverts, the others summarily ignored his letters. He didn’t give up, and kept sending them reminders.

“Apart from Sunny Leone, it took much longer to persuade the others. In some cases, I had to write to their wives to try persuading their husbands not to endorse tobacco products,” the good doctor said.

“Cine stars should realise they are role models for thousands of young people,” said Dr SK Arora, additional health director with the Delhi government, who sent out compliance notices to many celebrities, including Brosnan.

He confirmed there was no response from Shah Rukh Khan, as “he’s non-committal on these issues” and Brosnan seems to be targeted simply because “he’s receptive to our concerns”.

Brosnan is reportedly shaken by the attack on him in the Indian media and clarified that his advert contract was for different products in Pan Bahar’s range, in the category of “breath freshener/tooth whitener” and doesn’t include “tobacco”.

On an average, for an advert, celebrities are paid Rs 20 crore, as per industry sources.

“Indian celebrities are shameless,” Dr Chaturvedi said, not mincing his words. “They’re into surrogate advertising (or advertising in the guise of other products. For instance, to promote an alcoholic beverage, celebrities routinely appear in soda adverts having the same brand name as the spirit.”

“They” include the likes of Priyanka Chopra, Shah Rukh Khan, Govinda and Ajay Devgn.

Dr Chaturvedi has a question for each of them: “Will you allow your child to have products that you endorse because of the vulgar amount of money paid to you?”

This story was published in the Patriot.