Heroines’ cases against brands up for hearing

Chennai

Even as celebrity endorsements remain the crux of the Indian Advertisement Industry, top actresses Tamannah and Kajal Aggarwal are busy fighting the companies they endorsed at the Madras High Court. The actresses have accused the companies of exploiting them and not abiding by the contract they had signed. While Tamannah has dragged Power Soaps Limited to court seeking a compensation of a crore Kajal Aggarwal has sought Rs.2.5 Crore from VVD and Sons Limited.  

Actress Tamannah’s grievance is that the agreement she had entered with Power Soaps Limited was only for a year from October 7, 2008 to October 6, 2009 to use her photos and videos for promotion. But despite the end of contract, the company continued to use the materials produced earlier for the purpose of their advertisements unlawfully.  She has further submitted that her appearance in Power soap commercials has disadvantaged her negotiations with Wipro causing her severe monetary loss and mental agony. Power Soap which submitted that the agreement was not violated also refuted Tamannah’s claim that her endorsement had boosted their sales.

 It claimed that “Tamannah was not a popular film personality as averred and it was Power Soap, which popularised her for a period of one year. Tamannah was paid just Rs 1 lakh per year as per the agreement, which was a yardstick of her popularity then and that the present plea was just to unjustly enrich herself.” Kajal Aggarwal has also been subjected to a similar predicament. VVD and Sons Limited had agreed to use her profile only from December 29, 2008 to December 28 2012. But Aggarwal in her plea claimed that these aspects were flouted and the advertisement was aired on various dates, more particularly on September 9, 2011, being Vinayakar Chaturthi Day in various channels.

She also claimed that this has affected her endorsement contract with Emami Products and sought a compensation of Rs.2.5 Crore. VVD has claimed that when the ad was shot in 2008, Kajal was an ordinary model and she became an actor in films later. Noting that she was not a popular actor with fans all over the world, she was paid just Rs.3 Lakhs and that Kajal had not stipulated any conditions for the film. While Tamannah’s case is set to be taken up for further hearing on January 4, 2016, Kajal’s case is slated for cross examination on January 18.