From Posing Nude To Endorsing Vim Black; 4 Controversies Courted By Milind Soman

Spanning a career of almost three decades, Milind Soman has found himself in quite a few pools of hot water.

(Image Courtesy: Twitter; Altered by The Quint)

Touted to be "India's Ironman", actor and supermodel Milind Soman is not known to shy away from anything that can be considered bold and daring. This inadvertently means one thing: controversy. Spanning a career of almost three decades, the 57-year-old has found himself in quite a few pools of hot water - with the most recent one being an advertisement for Vim Black.

Here are 4 controversies courted by Milind Soman:

1. When He Endorsed Vim Black, A Dishwashing Liquid For Men

On Friday (9 December), MTVIndia took to Instagram to share the video advertisement. The ad begins with a man at the gym, bragging about doing the dishes to help out his mother. That’s when Soman enters, sarcastically praising him for boasting and offering Vim Black. The tagline says, “Vim Black for men, easy to clean, more to brag”.

2. When He Ran Naked On A Beach In Goa

Soman shared the photograph with the caption, “Happy Birthday to me…55 and running”. Shortly after, an FIR was filed and he was booked by the Goa Police. The then Superintendent of Police (South) Pankaj Kumar Singh had said, "Soman has been booked under IPC section 294 (obscene act in a public place) and section 67 of the Information and Technology Act after the complaint by Goa Suraksha Manch (a political outfit)."

3. When He Married Ankita Konwar

Soman's marriage to Ankita Konwar, a flight attendant, was a hotly debated topic in 2018. In 2021, in an Instagram Story, Konwar addressed her age gap with her husband by saying, "Anything that’s not common in a society, people usually like to talk about it. It’s not just limited to India. We as a species have the tendency to get weird about the unknown, the unexpected, AKA fear. A survival skill. Sometimes, we are not conscious enough to distinguish between the utility and waste of that skill. I have always done what makes me happy.”

4. When He Posed Naked With Madhu Sapre

The most famous controversy Soman was embroiled in was this print advertisement with his partner at the time, Madhu Sapre. Both the models posed with a python while wearing nothing except their Tuff shoes. In 2020, Soman re-shared the picture with the caption, “Keep seeing this pop up on my timelines every once in a while :) its 25 years old, at that time no social media no internet either I think ! wonder what the reaction would have been if it had been released today #flashback #timelapse #blackandwhite #nude #photo.”