Superstar Mohanlal who had been bestowed with the honorary Lieutenant Colonel's rank in the Territorial Army, two years ago is currently under Army scanner following the allegations that the star has misused the uniform for commercial purposes. The allegations came in the wake of the Kerala government advertisements of 'Grand Kerala Shopping Festival' to promote tourism, which had him in the uniform. The complaint was initiated by a retired Army brigadier who watched lal in a series of advertisements which is said to have presented himself in army uniform, claiming to be a 1971 war hero, a National Security Guard (NSG) commando, a gallantry medal winner and a recipient of the army chief's commendation card. The complainant further reports that a sum of Rs.50 lakh was paid for the actor for appearing in the advertisement, which was shot by his own production house, Ashirwad Films.

The actor who has denied the allegation made it clear that the part of the advertisement which has shown him in Army uniform is a clip from the movie 'kandahaar' which had him in a similar role and was running in the theatres during the airing of the advertisements. Lal further adds that he hasn't received any professional fees for the appearance in the advertisements. As per the Army rule, anyone conferred with the title can use the uniform only for official porposes, ceremonial occasions and during the training period. The honorary rank is conferred by the army on achievers to have them as role models of the current generation and inspire the country's young men to join the armed forces.

The army has in the recent years also conferred the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel to many sports persons, including 1983 World Cup winning Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev, 2011 World Cup winning cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra.