Shah Rukh Khan, known for his outspoken nature, once sparked a major conversation around his endorsement of soft drinks, a product criticized for its harmful effects on children. During a 2006 interview with Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN, SRK raised an important question: why celebrities are targeted for promoting these products while their production and sale remain unregulated? He argued that if soft drinks were genuinely harmful, they should be banned, much like cigarettes.
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SRK Remarks!
Addressing the controversy over endorsing cold drinks, SRK stated, “I would appeal to any authority like that. Ban it. Don’t let it sell in our country. If you think it’s bad for children, ban it. Smoking is bad – don’t let production of cigarettes go on in this country.” He stressed that if a product is indeed harmful, it should be prohibited from production, drawing a parallel with cigarettes to make his point.
SRK went on to discuss the government’s reluctance to ban such products, highlighting the revenue generated from them. “You’re not stopping it because it gives you a revenue. Let’s be honest about it. Don’t stop my revenue. I’m an actor. I’m supposed to do a job and get revenue from it,” SRK remarked. He further emphasized that if authorities believed a product was toxic, they should act to ban it without hesitation.
SRK On Bigger Health Issues
Shah Rukh also shared his views on the portrayal of smoking in films, arguing that there were more significant health issues to address. He mentioned, “The whole larger issue is that today smoking, tomorrow what? An art form should be left alone.” SRK asserted that the Indian audience was literate enough to distinguish between cinematic smoking and real-life behavior, and that smoking in films was a relatively small health issue compared to others.
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Shah Rukh Khan continues to make waves in the industry, with his next project being King, a film directed by Sujoy Ghosh, where he will share the screen with his daughter Suhana Khan.
