Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (MS)

Mangaluru, Nov 23: Accusation is heard that the coastal Karnataka art from of Yakshagana is insulted in a certain advertisement. Discussions are going on in social media since two days with respect to this issue.

MLA Vedavyasa Kamath posted on his Facebook page that in the advertisement of Fevicol, Yakshagana artistes and other background musicians are not shown in good taste. This kind of insult to Yakshagana art is not right.

The said advertisement is produced by a company of Mumbai origin. There are real Yakshagana artistes also who are in the advertisement. Netizens are urging that Fevicol company and the company which produced the advertisement should seek apology. However, some netizens are also arguing that there is no insult in the advertisement. On the contrary it has given advertisement to Yakshagana on national level.

Screengrab from the Fevicol advertisement

In the advertisement, when the artiste, who has donned the role of a king, sits on the throne, it breaks and falls. Another artiste laughs at this scene. Then the actor who has donned the role of king, pushes him. Then he falls and his throne also breaks and falls to the ground. When both of them start fighting, the whole stage collapses. Finally, the advertisement ends with the saying that such breaking and collapsing would not have happened if they had used Fevicol.

Prof M A Hegde, president of Karnataka Yakshagana Academy, has defended the advertisement. He said, "Fevicol company has used the popular art form of Yakshagana for their advertisement. I have seen the same. I am not able to understand what has gone wrong in that. According to me, with that advertisement, the status of Yakshagana has gone to higher level and there is no insult done to the art. Yakshagana will gain more popularity in the country."