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One of the scandals in India has taken on a large scale due to the identity of the person at the center of it—actress Urvashi Rautela, one of Bollywood’s biggest stars. She was summoned for questioning by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in June 2025. The questions asked were related to advertising illegal betting apps, including such well-known platforms as FairPlay, 1xBet, and others. Many of them are disguised as skill games. In India, there is a ban on such games by the authorities, yet they continue to be actively promoted.
Why is Urvashi Rautela so important in this case? Because the actress is not just another recognizable movie star. She stars in music videos that attract millions of viewers, and in the past she was the winner of the Miss Diva Universe beauty contest. The girl has over 70 million followers on Instagram, making her one of the most powerful influencers in the Indian media space. And now such a person is participating in the advertising of illegal apps — naturally, the close attention of investigators is quite understandable. Of course, illegal games are disguised as legal digital entertainment, but that doesn’t change the essence.
Such apps were promoted using QR codes that redirected users to mirror sites, which greatly complicates the situation. The sites were not registered in India, so legal restrictions could be circumvented. Moreover, there were cases when the platform’s advertising was open, and no one hid the fact that it was an international bookmaker. However, for the Indian audience, it was transformed into an “arcade” or an attention game. According to experts, this allowed them to create the illusion of harmlessness and circumvent legal restrictions. Moreover, this is precisely how gambling comes to the attention of teenagers and young people.
Most often, Indian actors and actresses advertise not traditional slots, but innovative games with advanced mechanics. The latter fall into the category of arcade or so-called “instant games.” For example, one of the most frequent advertising integrations belongs to Jetx online game in India. Its advertising can be seen on athletes’ T-shirts, in combat rings, and at other events.
Urvashi Rautela is not the only media personality involved in a criminal case. The complaint includes the names of 25 Telugu film stars, including Rancho Daggubati, Prashas Raj, Vijay Devaraj, and Manchu Lakshmi—all of whom are suspected of promoting gambling apps. Prasanth Raj, for example, has already admitted his guilt and confirmed that he collaborated with the gaming platform, although it was almost 10 years ago. He said he disagreed with the industry’s practices, so he terminated the contract due to internal disagreements. He released a public statement apologizing for the past and urging young people to stay away from such entertainment as much as possible.
However, since the line between law and marketing is thin, representatives of the Indian entertainment industry continue to find themselves in questionable situations. The Ministry of Information and Technology and the Central Consumer Protection Agency issue numerous bans, but promotional videos featuring actors continue to be released. Advertisements featuring bloggers and singers can also be seen on YouTube, Telegram, and Instagram.
Puneet Superstar, Deepak Kalal, and Poonam Pandey, for example, took part in an advertising campaign for the offshore platform Stake. The brand’s official channels did not distribute the video, but many people still saw the clip featuring famous media personalities—influencers shared it on their personal pages, so formally, they managed to avoid responsibility.
The trend of involving public figures in advertising for seemingly harmless apps is becoming increasingly widespread in India. This is understandable — for a young audience, such people act as guarantors of trust. At the same time, the names of female actresses have rarely appeared in such cases before, so the case of Urvashi Rautela has become both significant and resonant. Advertising for gambling apps is no longer exclusively a male domain, and this is how this signal can be interpreted. Media personalities make it more difficult for audiences to distinguish between legal and illegal apps, so it is important for law enforcement agencies to get to the bottom of what is going on.
