MUMBAI: Manjeet Ral and his wife, Nindy Kaur, who make up the hit band MANJ Musik, have just shot a hard-hitting ad for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India about the cruelty of circuses that use animals. The ad shows the hot couple peering into the camera next to the caption "We Choose to Perform. Animals Don't! Boycott Animals Circuses". The stunning ad was shot by ace photographer Douglas Sonders. MANJ Musik is a new band that resulted when the band RDB broke up. MANJ Musik's latest song, used by the film Heropanti, is a massive hit.

"The circus is generally wrong. Realistically, animals are being tortured", says Manjeet. "Ban all circuses.We all need to speak up."

Animals used in circuses are forced to perform confusing, unnatural tricks – such as riding bicycles, standing on their heads and jumping through rings of fire – not because they want to but out of fear of violent punishment. Their access to water, food and veterinary care is often severely restricted. Dogs are crammed into dirty cages and rarely let out, and birds have their wings clipped so that they can't fly and are confined to small cages. Horses are kept tethered on short ropes, and elephants are kept chained. The government has already banned the use of bears, monkeys, tigers, panthers, lions and bulls in performances. PETA is calling on the government to follow the lead of Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus and Greece by banning the use of all animals in circuses.