Royal Stag versus United Breweries: Harbhajan Singh versus MS Dhoni?

Can Harbhajan Singh not take a joke?

This is the question raised by Vijay Mallya of United Breweries(UB).

The liquor magnate was slapped with a legal notice by Avtar Kaul, the Singh family matriarch.

Cause of offense is a UB commercial parodying Bhajji’s appearance for the Royal Stag brand from the Pernod Ricard stable.

The woman is dismayed with the portrayal of the father-son relationship where a Harbhajan look-alike is slapped by his father for taking the phrase ‘Have I made it large?” too literally and churning out huge ball bearings—obviously less-than-utilitarian.

The distressed mother has gone on to charge the UB Group with offending the Sikh community and fostering disunity within the Indian cricket team.

I viewed both the ads, an exercise I would not have indulged in had this controversy not erupted. An involuntary side-effect of the imbroglio is that there will be a lot more interest in the said ads. The best publicity is free.

The mater could be correct in her assessment that the resulting strife could cause disharmony in the team. My first thoughts were that the commercial was funny until you venture upon the Indian skipper commenting something on the lines, “Don’t make it large, make it different.” That does leave one with a slight bitter after-taste, much like acid reflux.

UB—maybe—could have toned down the send-up by having a Dhoni duplicate play the Indian skipper instead. Just a thought.

As long as Bhajji does not feel that Duke’s red cherry is as leaden as a large steel ball bearing, all should be well within the Indian squad.

Perhaps, Shantakumara Sreesanth might derive vicarious pleasure from witnessing his bete-noire cuffed— even a fake one.

Vijay Mallya refused to withdraw the TV ad saying, “There are several TV programmes that spoof our politicians. What will happen if all of them start sending legal notices?”

Will Khushwant Singh add his two bits? A Banta-Santa yarn, with Dhoni as Banta and Bhajji as Santa?