Kriti Sanon’s Rakhi Ad Pulled After Controversy, But Doesn’t India Have Bigger Issues to Focus On?

What began as a jewellery advertisement celebrating Raksha Bandhan has grown into a wider debate about hurt sentiments, cultural values and uneven standards of public outrage.

Jewellery brand GIVA withdrew its campaign featuring Kriti Sanon after sharp criticism over her clothing and the inclusion of her pet dog. Sanon appeared in a bralette-style Indo-Western outfit while tying a Rakhi to her brother and dog. As the backlash intensified, GIVA removed the advertisement, saying it never intended to hurt anyone’s sentiments.

Among the strongest critics was BJP MP Kangana Ranaut, who questioned why Sanon would tie a Rakhi to her brother in what she described as “bikini/undergarments” and called the campaign “intentionally creepy.”

Sanon responded without naming her critic: “Culture & Traditions are in her heart, not in her neckline,” she wrote, arguing that tradition lies in its emotions and meaning, not a woman’s clothing. She added that, in her family, the love and protection symbolised by Raksha Bandhan extended to their pets because they were family.

The campaign was ultimately a commercial built around a creative styling choice. But the intensity of the backlash brings into focus other recent instances where religious imagery entered public and political spaces.

At an event at the Press Club premises in Delhi, organisers linked to the Bihar State Transgender Welfare Board featured a life-size depiction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Lord Ram. An aarti was performed and a “Modi Chalisa” recited. The Press Club later said the hall had been booked for another purpose and stopped the event after learning what was happening.

Earlier, at a BJP roadshow in Lucknow, a man dressed as Lord Hanuman danced ahead of the leader’s vehicle while waving a BJP flag. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad called the episode “highly condemnable.”

Both incidents drew criticism, but neither appeared to generate the same sustained outrage as Sanon’s advertisement. That contrast matters when India already faces far more pressing problems affecting people’s everyday lives.

If clothing in an advertisement is treated as an assault on cultural values, the same scrutiny should apply when religious imagery enters political spectacles.

The controversy is therefore about more than a Rakhi, a bralette or a commercial. It is about whether public outrage is applied consistently, rather than selectively depending on who is involved.