Akshay Kumar, Gen Z, and a ‘say no to drugs’ message. What can go wrong? A new public awareness campaign by the Narcotics Control Bureau shows what. Its attempt to be both relatable and authoritative fails so badly that the message gets lost.
The PSA—directed by Subhash Kapoor of Jolly LLB fame—opens at a house party, where a group of boys and girls speak in what the makers presumably think is Gen Z lingo. I am Gen Z, and I have never heard anyone say ‘zooted’ for getting high in India.
Drip, drop, vibe, mate, ‘need to touch the skies tonight’: the script throws in every so-called Gen Z expression ever documented. But it’s hard to say what is worse, the dialogue or the stilted delivery. The cast sounds like it is reading from a slang dictionary, and no one seems comfortable with the words. This isn’t how Gen Z talks. And caricaturing them in the first ten seconds is hardly the way to get them interested.
Just when you think it can’t get worse, Akshay Kumar swaggers in to foil their plans of indulging in a joint.
To be fair, he has a history with this theme, and some of it is good. His 2018 anti-smoking PSA, which ran in cinemas for years, is still remembered. So is his line, ‘Phu phu karna herogiri nahi hoti’—smoking doesn’t make you a hero. The ad worked because it gave people a picture that made sense: a man who can’t afford sanitary pads for his wife but finds money for cigarettes every month. The message was specific, it carried an emotion, and it didn’t lecture.
What made his credibility suffer somewhat a few years later was a 2022 ad for Vimal Elaichi, which is also associated with pan masala. After a backlash, Kumar apologised, saying he had not and would not endorse tobacco.
At this point, Akshay Kumar storming in to give young people a morality lecture just seems hackneyed.
Also Read: What happens when SRK, Ranbir and Alia brainstorm a Rungta TMT bars ad? Bollywood takes over
Gyan delivered with a joint
The ad hits the proverbial rock bottom when Akshay Kumar starts mouthing “Gen Z” terms to get through to the partygoers.
“What’s the deal with my OG squad? All set to fly high. Count me in, bro,” he says, before launching into gyan.
The finger-wagging takes the form of a joint being brandished before his young audience.
“Just understand that this intoxication will also make you feel out of place. Your brain’s system will get blown. No signal. Full lag. Because research says that with repeated use of drugs, the grey cells of the brain go on vanish mode,” he says. “Wanna feel high, earn it, don’t burn it. This joint is not a vibe, it’s a full system shutdown.”
None of this is convincing. It just looks like a nearly 60-year-old man trying very hard to sound young.
And for all the slang, the entire approach is dated.
“Research says” is the oldest opener in the book, and it tells a teenager the next thirty seconds are a lecture.
The one thing that is useful is the helpline number that Kumar provides. But even this is confusing. The number is not introduced as something that a troubled young person can actually turn to.
“Don’t let a temporary high lead to a lifetime of regret. Join the fight against drug trafficking and abuse. Call the National Narcotics Helpline 1933,” says Kumar.
That message belongs in a different ad.
“Don’t try drugs” is a prevention message aimed at a curious kid. “Join the fight” is a call to action aimed at a citizen.
The first needs empathy and the second needs urgency, and they’re not the same emotional state or the same audience.
When a message tries to do everything, a teenager hears nothing.
Also Read: Ramadhir Singh is back with Gangs of Cryptopur. WazirX ad runs on nostalgia
A wasted opportunity
The NCB had a rare chance to get through to young people, and it needed two ‘Rs’ that the film never bothered with: research and relatability.
Did the makers ever sit in a room with 16-to-22-year-olds and ask them how drug use actually starts? A prevention message grounded in research might have captured some of the common triggers: a ‘bas ek baar’ at a hostel party, the pressure of an exam, or a loneliness nobody noticed.
As for relatability, it’s not about appropriating buzzwords, real or imagined. A 17-year-old should feel seen instead of scolded. Imagine the same star as the bada bhai who shows up and listens without flinching. It would have landed differently.
An ad that’s basically a government circular in disguise might never be shared as widely as one that actually speaks to young people.
The cause is serious and the stakes are real, which is exactly why a clumsy ad is a bigger problem than it looks. Every wasted campaign risks teaching young people that ‘anti-drug awareness’ means boredom.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)