Tukaram Mundhe, who now heads Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as its Commissioner, has been in the news for his aggressive crackdowns on restaurants and other food establishments. His firm stance against safety and hygiene violations earned him the nickname "real-life Singham" across social media. As his online popularity keeps climbing, even Bollywood has taken notice, with Manoj Bajpayee becoming the latest actor, after Salman Khan, to publicly comment on the FDA chief.

Manoj Bajpayee questions why honesty is being celebrated

Manoj praised Mundhe for approaching his duties with sincerity. At the same time, commenting on the buzz surrounding the officer's recent raids, he raised the question of why fulfilling one's basic job responsibilities has now become a cause for celebration. The actor further observed that this kind of public reaction says a lot about where society currently stands. "A police officer, or, let’s say, Tukaram, is appointed to do a certain job. When he performs his duties with complete honesty and dedication, people find it surprising that he starts going viral. Have you realised this?" Bajpayee told to ANI.He added, "This simply means that when someone is performing their duty with complete honesty, he becomes a celebrity. And that itself tells us where we, as a society, have reached."

Salman Khan's playful warning to his cafe-owner friend

Just hours before this, Salman Khan had already amused fans with a light-hearted warning to his friend about sending the FDA chief over to his newly launched cafe in Bandra, Mumbai. Though he stopped short of naming him outright, the ‘Sikandar’ actor joked that any lapse in hygiene at the cafe would result in the officer being called in, throwing in a new twist on his viral "it's done, bro" meme for good measure. A snippet from Salman's Instagram Story, giving a shoutout to his friend's cafe, read, "Refill my coffee ya please. Price mat badhana, quality maintain karna. Hygiene maintained or I will send HIM and it's done sis."