Ujjain’s famous Mahakal temple demanded that online food delivery firm Zomato withdraw an advertisement featuring Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan as it offends Hindu sentiments.
In the ad, Roshan says he felt like having a ‘thali’ (food platter) in Ujjain so he ordered from ‘Mahakal’. The Mahakaleshwar or Mahakal temple of Shiva in Ujjain is one of twelve ‘Jyotirlingas’ which attracts devotees from across the country. Priests of the temple Mahesh and Ashish said Zomato should withdraw the advertisement immediately and tender an apology.
Devotees are served ‘prasad’ on a thali and the ad hurts the feelings of Hindus, they claimed. They also approached Ujjain district collector Ashish Singh who is the chairman of the Mahakal temple trust and sought action against the company so that no one mocks the Hindu religion again, the priests said.
Speaking to reporters, Singh termed the ad as ‘misleading’, saying that the temple offers free meals as ‘prasad’ and it is not sold.
Soon after the ad surfaced on social media, netizens started trolling Hrithik Roshan as well as the food-delivery company for deliberately hurting sentiments of Hindus.
Check out some of the reactions on the new Zomato ad on social media.
On the work front, Hrithik Roshan has films like ‘Vikram Vedha’ and ‘Fighter’ under his belt. The actor was recently massively trolled massively on Twitter after he gave a shoutout to Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha and appealed against the ‘boycott culture’.
In his shoutout to Laal Singh Chaddha, Hrithik Roshan wrote: “Just watched Laal Singh Chaddha. I felt the HEART of this movie. Pluses and minuses aside, this movie is just magnificent. Don’t miss this gem guys ! Go ! Go now . Watch it. It’s beautiful. Just beautiful.” However, he too became a target of the trolls and they demanded to boycott Hrithik’s upcoming film ‘Vikram Vedha’.