A hoarding of Saif Ali Khan for Agent Vinod to be pulled down

A street hoarding of Saif Ali Khan’s forthcoming spy thriller had to be pulled down after it caused an accident on the road

Saif Ali Khan may be on his way to becoming the poster boy of spy films in India, but some of the commuters on Mahim Causeway are paying for it. A 32/72 feet hoarding of Mr Khan holding two guns has been distracting pedestrians and men behind wheels so much on that particular stretch of road that it has even led to a few minor accidents.

So much so that it resulted in the local municipal authorities asking the producers to bring down the hoarding.

Says a source, “ The hoarding is placed on a road that leads to the Western Express Highway and Bandra Masjid.

It’s a very busy road and hence was causing a lot of complications because of its sheer size.

In fact, two cars banged against each other, but thankfully nothing worse happened.” The hoarding, which is by far the largest for any Hindi film till date has been positioned on the spot for over a week, garnering the film a lot of eyeballs. However, the publicity was short lived considering the producers chose to stay away from running into trouble with the authorities. Says producer Dinesh Vijan, “ We realised that it could become a hazard as the commuters were paying more attention to the hoarding than the turn ahead. So in the interest of road safety, we decided to change the creative.“ The film has apparently spent more money on outdoor creative campaigns than most Bollywood ventures. This particular space, which cost the producers over Rs 12 lakhs however will not go waste.

Adds Rajan Ahuja who has been responsible for the campaigns, “There was a little money lost in the installing and removing of the hoarding, but we have placed another smaller poster there so the space does not get wasted completely.”