Pierce Brosnan went from martini to paan masala

Eventful as it is, this is not Brosnan's first India outing. In 1988, he had starred in Merchant Ivory Productions' The Deceivers set in the India of the 1820s. His co-stars were Shashi Kapoor, Saeed Jaffrey and Neena Gupta

Last week, the outrage industry in India was in full swing on being greeted with a full-page advertisement in newspapers of popular paan masala brand, Pan Bahar.

On this occasion, it wasn't a Bollywood star or a cricketer endorsing the product. The man holding the paan masala tin, the way he would hold a gun, was Irish-born Hollywood star Pierce Brosnan, most popular for his role as James Bond. The ageing MI6 agent appeared with a fair mop of grey facial hair.
 

Soon after, the video of the Pan Bahar commercial featuring Brosnan was released in which he put on display some of his signature moves, again using the tin as a weapon.

It isn't that international stars have previously not endorsed Indian products. Hugh Jackman endorsed Micromax and Lionel Messi is the brand ambassador of Tata Motors, but Brosnan and Pan Bahar coming together sent social media into overdrive.

Born in Drogheda in Ireland in 1953, Brosnan got his first break in American television in 1981 with the Manions of America after a few appearances in TV shows in the UK and Ireland.

During his career in Hollywood that spanned over three decades, he has had his fair share of success, but his finest association was his role as Bond. He played "007" in four films, starting with GoldenEye (1995) and ending with Die Another Day (2002).

Much of his global popularity, including in India, comes from playing Bond, so getting Brosnan on board was quite a coup for Pan Bahar. But twitterati, particularly, slammed Brosnan for endorsing a product perceived to be harmful to health. The mock brigade said the global financial crisis had brought Brosnan to India to endorse the product.

Pan Bahar swiftly swung into damage-control mode and issued a three-line statement saying the product did not contain tobacco or nicotine. Cancer specialists, however, say other substances like supari, which are present in the product, are just as dangerous and a potential cause of cancer. India has among the highest incidence of oral cancer in the world and supari is believed to be a major trigger.

As eventful as it was, this was not Brosnan's first India outing. In 1988, he had starred in Merchant Ivory Productions' The Deceivers set in the India of the 1820s. His co-stars were Shashi Kapoor, Saeed Jaffrey and Neena Gupta. Until now, this film had been Brosnan's closest link to India.

Brosnan has been married twice. His first wife, Cassandra Harris, died in 1991 after a four-year-long battle with ovarian cancer. He later married Keely Shaye Smith in 2001. He has five children, two of whom are adopted, through these marriages. In 2013, his stepdaughter, Charlotte Harris, died at the age of 42, also from ovarian cancer. Since the death of his first wife, Brosnan has been a major advocate for cancer awareness.

Critics say this was all the more reason for him to have been caution in his choice of the product to endorse.