R Balki's Maruti Versa Ad Campaign Fiasco: 'A Huge F**k-Up' with Amitabh Bachchan

Image Source: Internet

Amitabh Bachchan has been a household name for decades, starring in numerous iconic advertisements. However, one particular campaign stands out as a major misstep. Director R Balki recently opened up about the disastrous ad shoot for Maruti Suzuki's Versa family van, which featured Big B and his son Abhishek. The idea behind the campaign was to showcase the father-son duo together, with Amitabh Bachchan reading the newspaper on a lawn while Abhishek arrives in his new car. But things quickly took a turn for the worse when Balki realized the car they had been promised was not the actual vehicle. He described the situation as a 'huge f**k-up,' revealing that the family had been shown a picture of another van, with the assurance that the real car would look similar. On the day of filming, Balki was left speechless when the actual vehicle arrived on set. The Maruti Versa, which was meant to be a sleek family van, looked nothing like the car they had been shown. Abhishek struggled to get in, and Amitabh Bachchan, who hadn't seen the car before, couldn't help but express his disgust. 'What is this piece of sh*t that you have got there?' he blurted out on camera. Balki felt that the campaign was completely wrong and urged the company to stop it, but they refused to listen. The ad went ahead, with Amitabh and Abhishek promoting a product that nobody wanted to buy. The campaign was a failure, and Balki realized he should have pulled the plug on it. The incident serves as a reminder that even the most iconic stars can't save a bad product. R Balki has worked with Amitabh and Abhishek on several films, including Cheeni Kum and Paa. Meanwhile, the Bachchans are gearing up for their upcoming releases. Abhishek will be seen in Siddharth Anand's King, alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone, while Amitabh has Nag Ashwin's Kalki 2898 AD sequel in the works, alongside Prabhas and Kamal Haasan.