New Delhi: A promotional video featuring actor Deepika Padukone on behalf of the government’s Skill India campaign has been ‘abruptly dropped’, ThePrint reported a senior official in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship as having said.
The news portal also quoted the ministry as having officially said that the video, which has Padukone speaking on acid attack survivors in addition to Skill India, was being ‘evaluated’.
Skill India was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 and aims to equip nearly 40 crore people with various skills by 2022.
The report comes mere days after the actor joined protests at Jawaharlal Nehru University against violence perpetrated on campus against students and teachers by rightwing groups.
Also read: Deepika Padukone’s Silent Presence at JNU Protests Will Change the Game
The show of solidarity by Padukone – one of the biggest Bollywood names to join the recent protests – led the rightwing to unleash a volley of abuses at her and call for the boycott of her new release, Chhapaak. Many, purportedly belonging to the BJP ‘IT cell’, shared the same alleged screenshot claiming it showed that their tickets for the film were cancelled.
The film is based on the experiences of an acid attack survivor. The Skill India video would have acted as a promotional for the film; the ministry had also facilitated a meeting between Padukone and acid attack survivors.
To ThePrint, the ministry reportedly said that the video had been sent by Padukone’s ‘team’ and would thus require its evaluation. The unnamed senior official, however, said, it was “being circulated in the Shram Shakti Bhawan too. But after (Tuesday’s) chain of events, the video was abruptly dropped.”
The report also cited the example of actors Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma who had done promotional videos for Skill India ahead of the release of their film Sui Dhaaga: Made in India.
Speculation had been rife as to whether Padukone’s appearance at JNU had been motivated by her film’s promotional needs. Several, however, noted on social media that the actor was aware of the possibility of a reduction in ticket sales that taking a political stand would mean at such a time. Social media users were quick to point out that Padukone knew the effects of a multitude baying for an actor’s blood when controversy had raged over her last release Padmavaat.
The film Chhapaak, meanwhile, has been exempted of taxes in the Congress-ruled states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh and the Union Territory of Puducherry.