As always, Amitabh Bachchan is in the news, or getting bonked on the head, for a variety of reasons, all at once. Last week, a lawyer wrote an open letter asking Amitabh Bachchan to look at the charges of contamination in the chocolates that he endorses (the ‘Pappu paas ho gaya’ brand). And there is the constant sniping at the heels for the colas he has so convincingly sold.

Now here’s some inside info nobody seems to know. Have you lately seen Amitabh Bachchan feature in a cola commercial? The truth is, he is not endorsing colas any more, and I don’t know why that has escaped everybody’s notice. This bit of news should especially please Mr Ramadoss, the honourable minister of health, who thinks caning celebrities (and going soft on multinationals) is the answer to India’s health problems.

During a recent chat, the 63-year-old actor threw up this important piece of information.

Question: Since people look up to you, do you think you should now be careful about the chocolates and colas that you endorse?

He answered, “We’ve always been cautious about what we endorse. We try to know something about the product, what effect it’s going to have on people. There has to be some level of comfort for us before we actually start proclaiming (that you buy this product).

“It happened with the chocolates,” he added expansively. “They came to me at a time when they had a problem and they were honest enough to tell me that. If there was a problem, first, I had to be assured that the product was away from controversy. So I actually went there to watch how the chocolates were made and then I said that the first ad I wanted to do was to not just sing praises about the product but to tell people why I was doing this (campaign). And that’s exactly what I did. It did very well because we were very upfront with it.”

While the chocolates controversy has surfaced this time in England, it’s colas with their pesticide (and calorie) content that have got consumers worried in this sub-continent.

In his answer, Amitabh Bachchan pointed out, “I don’t endorse alcohol, I don’t endorse tobacco or gutka. And I’d stop Abhishek from doing the same.

“But,” he explained defensively, “if there’s a product that suddenly develops a problem (like the colas), there are two things to consider: was the problem there when we were actually signing up? The answer’s no, because if there had been a problem then perhaps we (celebrities) would have reacted the way I did for the chocolates. If a problem develops when we’re in the middle of a contract, it’s really the responsibility of the manufacturers. They must categorically tell us that there’s a problem. Then we would either withdraw or stay with them.

“In the case of colas there are differing opinions. There’s a body that says it’s full of pesticides, they themselves (the cola people) say, this (the charge) is wrong. Some states are banning it, some are not. Some politicians are saying ‘yes’, some are saying ‘no’. Let there be some kind of finality on it — let the government say this is illegal, it has to be banned, nobody can drink it — and we’ll stop.”

But Abhishek doesn’t endorse colas anyway, you remind him.

“Yes, he doesn’t. It feels good.”

That he’s taken a stand?

“Sure.”

Even if it’s different from yours?

It was at this juncture that the significant bit of information came out. “Well,” said he, “I’m not endorsing colas any more. I was, I’m not any more. I’m not in any contract right now, nor is Abhishek. I’m out of the contract, the contract I had has expired.”

If the cola people were to come to you for a renewal, would you do a rethink?

“I don’t know. If they come and they can convince me there’s no problem, and if the government says there’s no problem, then I don’t see anything wrong in endorsing it. What we really need is a legal opinion or a diktat from the government saying this is wrong, and we won’t do it.”

Between you and me, despite the clean chit given by Mr Ramadoss himself, AB will be following in his son’s footsteps this time. Right now he’s not gonna touch such a contract with a barge pole.

Bharathi S. Pradhan is managing editor of Movie Mag International