Akshay Kumar, Twinkle Khanna In A Legal Soup For Auctioning Rustom Uniform

Mumbai: Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna drew the ire of many with their Twitter posts about auctioning the ‘actual naval officer uniform’ he wore in his 2016 film Rustom, based on a real life story.

Twenty-one individuals, including 11 serving Army officers and seven retired officers, have sent a legal notice to the Bollywood couple, that says the ‘uniforms resembling those of armed forces pose potential threat to national security as the said uniform, insignia and badges could pass for genuine service clothing and can find their way to anti-national elements who can use it to foment trouble.”

The notice further states that after the Pathankot attack, “Indian Army had issued guidelines urging civilians across the country to avoid wearing army pattern dresses and shopkeepers were asked to not sell combat clothes, uniforms and equipments as it is ‘illegal to do so’. Thus, by putting the naval officer uniform for auction you have shown disrespect to national interest and have hurt the sentiments of armed force personnel.”

One of the loudest voices of dissent was of Lt Col Sandeep Ahlawat, who also slammed Twinkle Khanna in a Facebook post saying that the uniform was “not a piece of cloth that a producer hands over to cinestars for enacting roles and make some quick bucks.” An excerpt from his Facebook post reads: “If you even make a feeble attempt to auction this piece of costume in the garb of ‘UNIFORM’ then I will drag you to the court. You may like to check my credentials. You touch our honour and we will give a bloody nose.”

It is not the costume but the wrongful advertising of it as an ‘actual naval officer uniform’ that brought them this trouble, sources said.

The bidding is for raising money for an NGO Janice’s Trust that works for animal rescue. When Akshay was asked to comment on the controversy, he said that he supports his wife on this matter. “I and my wife are doing some work with good intention for a good cause. That was a costume that I used in the film. It is going for a good cause. I do not think we have done anything wrong,” he said.

A legal notice was also sent to auction house SaltScout. As per the sources, on online bidding, the highest bid offeret for this uniform was Rs 2,35,000.