Mumbai: At a news conference nearly four years after Prime Minister Vajpayee's much-publicised directive to India's State Governments to enforce animal-protection laws- Bollywood's favourite villain revealed his soft spot for animals by launching two hard-hitting ads, one for print media and another for television, on behalf of PETA India (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

Gulshan, best known for his chilling portrayal of the villain in the film Ram Lakhan, hopes to encourage citizens to urge their local Governments and police to take action to stop illegal overcrowding of animals in transport to slaughter for leather and meat

The print ad, shot by ace photographer Ashok Salian, shows. Gulshan, in a faux-leather trench coat and shoes, towering over a lorry that is jam-packed with cows, along with the tagline 'Stop the Real Villains, Stop Cruel Animal Transport'.

In the video ad Gulshan orders someone off-camera to deprive 'them' of food and water, rub chilli peppers into 'their' eyes if 'they' collapse and then cram 'them' onto lorries and take 'them' to be killed. Viewers soon learn that the victims of this cruelty are animals, who suffer such abuse every day. 'I am a villain only on screen; however, there are real-life villains who treat animals badly', says Gulshan. 'I urge decent people everywhere to help stop [animals'] needless suffering by insisting that their local Governments and police enforce laws against cruel transport and poor treatment of animals by truly bad men.' PETA India charges that virtually no improvements in the treatment of animals have been implemented since Vajpayee's directive and that violations of India's 1960 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act remain widespread.

Among other acts of cruelty to Indian cows, buffaloes, goats and sheep, PETA has gathered evidence which shows animals being crammed onto trucks in such high numbers that many become severely injured, gouged by horns and crushed - many of them dying en route - and later, at most abattoirs, being dragged inside and cut open, often with dirty, blunt knives in full view of one another, some animals being skinned and dismembered while still conscious. Last month, world-renowned Sitarist and Bharath Ratna recipient Pandit Ravi Shankar announced his support for PETA India's initiative to file a Supreme Court case against the Indian Government for failing to alleviate the suffering of animals used for leather and meat. And designers such as Hemant Trevedi, Stella McCartney, Geetanjali Kashyap and Rajesh Pratap Singh are spearheading an important fashion trend by opting to use humane materials instead of leather for their creations.