Masala maar ke
Jasmine Singh
It was something unbelievable! Those who caught sight of a Pierce Brosnan ‘look alike’ in an Indian pan masala ad, replayed it quickly on the YouTube to check if this was for real. And yes, the Pierce Brosnan ‘look alike’ was none other than the James Bond who now fights the goons and dribbles the pan masala pack here and there, to savour it in the end with a tagline Class never goes out of style displayed below!
Oh yes, you are seeing James Bond running after some pan masala! Fans across are amused, humorours tweets are spreading like fire. What’s got into Pierce Brosnan? Well, fans and Bollywood actors come up with their self-explanatory answers…
Bond with the desi
If Bollywood actors working in Hollywood projects could have been any inspiration for Pierce Brosnan, one doesn’t know. But some fans are finding it very cool. Raghav Deepak, a graphic designer from Sector-33 thought it was the Bond look alike in the ad, “Then I realised, this was the real Pierce Brosnan, I couldn’t stop laughing, but then I thought this is like cool for an angrej to be doing an Indian ad and that too of a pan masala.”
After its release on Friday, Pierce Brosnan’s pan masala ad has touched a million mark on YouTube already. As much to the James Bond fans, this was something strange (read funny) for Bollywood as well.
Director Prashant Singh thought it was some kind of a joke when he saw the ad. “I am dead sure Bond has no idea what he is endorsing. However, it sure has paved way for other Hollywood actors now,” he laughs, “next it could be Daniel Craig in some baniyaan ad.”
This Pierce Brosnan ad has been put together in a typical Bond style, the video features a luxury car, a few women and action, but there is a catch. Instead of guns and ammunition which he used in the Bond films, Brosnan is fighting with a box of the pan masala.
“Now, why should there be a hue and cry about this? Hasn’t Priyanka Chopra done a masala pearl ad,” says stand-up comedian Manpal. It was for an Indian brand but... “India, China, England…what difference does it make, bus dil Bond bada hoan chahiye.”
jasmine@tribunemail.com
At the receiving end
Twitter users have taken a dig at this ad, as well as criticised it.
Sahil Shah tweeted: “Breaking News: Pierce Brosnan is also going to endorse Thumbs Up. The tagline would be ‘Aaj kuchh thoo paani karte hai’. Breaking News: Pierce Brosnan to come in a new movie The Adventures of Peter Paan and Captain Thook.” Another user said, “Pierce Brosnan is Pan Singh Tumor”.
Comedian Sorabh Pant remarked: “Pierce Brosnan endorses Pan Bahar. S***w you, Hugh Jackman. And, Micromax. This is the greatest Make in India moment.”
While there was one user who wondered why Brosnan agreed to endorse Pan Bahar, Piyush Pankaj posted: “Pierce Brosnan supports StandUpToCancer on global platform but in India promotes chewing tobacco Pierce Brosnan”.
The actor has worked in films like in Golden Eye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002).
This is Brosnan’s second endorsement of an Indian product. He had earlier endorsed suiting fabric Indian brand Reid & Taylor.
