A movie, a ministry and a question

New Delhi | Mumbai: Has the skills development ministry 'dropped' a promotional video featuring actor Deepika Padukone? No, we are evaluating, says the ministry. No contract happened, says the marketing team of Chhapaak, a Padukone starrer releasing this Friday. Padukone had visited Jawaharlal Nehru University two days ago. A masked mob had entered the university campus on Sunday evening and attacked students and teachers.

A ministry official told ET that it is “evaluating the proposal of a video… as part of a regular process” and that “there’s no formal engagement and therefore no question of dropping it”. “As part of regular process under communication and promotional activity for Skill India, the team keeps getting ideas from media houses and organisations to cross promote each other,” the official said, seeking anonymity.

Executives in Chhapaak’s marketing team, also speaking off record, told ET that they were engaged in multiple conversations for the film’s promotion, which included talks with the government, media platforms as well as social media channels. “Talks with the ministry did not materialise… we did a very successful tie-up with TikTok, where Deepika debuted on the service. It has worked very well and created a lot of buzz for the film,” said one executive. Media reports had said a 45-second promotional video on Skill India has Padukone speaking about equal opportunities in the context of the movie Chhapaak, a biographical drama on an acid attack survivor.

According to the ministry, Chhapaak’s production team had approached Skill India for promoting the film’s subject. “Actors from the movie had met some acid attack survivors and specially abled people from our ecosystem… they are also Skill India beneficiaries,” said the official quoted earlier.

“The ministry takes time to evaluate all such promotional offers. There is no formal engagement with the party. Hence, no question of dropping it,” the official added. The National Skill Development Corporation, under the skills ministry, had facilitated Padukone’s meetings with acid attack survivors before the video was produced, said ministry officials.