American sitcom, 'The Big Bang Theory' has made headlines in India over the past couple of days over an episode that has a mention of actor Madhuri Dixit. This was after Mithun Vijay Kumar, who calls himself a political analyst, said he sent a legal notice to Netflix over remarks made by a character in the show about Dixit.
While referring to Episode one of 'The Big Bang Theory''s Season 2, Kumar alleged that an "offensive and derogatory term" was used for Dixit. "As a fan of Madhuri Dixit since childhood, I was deeply disturbed by the dialogue. I found it highly derogatory and offensive towards Indian culture and women," he wrote.
The dialogues in question were spoken by the character Rajesh Koothrapalli in an episode aired in 2008. Kumar claimed that the remarks were "not only offensive but also defamatory". The comedy show aired on CBS spanning over 12 seasons from 2007 to 2019 and first premiered on CBS.
This isn't the first time a TV show or a web series has found itself in controversy in India. Several shows have face legal trouble over allegations of "defaming", "hurting religious sentiments" or "using derogatory language".
Here is a list of TV shows and web series that have been in trouble in India:
1. Kapil Sharma Show
In September 2021, popular comedy show hosted by Kapil Sharma faced an FIR for an episode that showed a courtroom-based comedy sketch with actors drinking during the performance. The FIR was filed by a lawyer from Madhya Pradesh named Suresh Dhakad. A case was filed under IT Act and Excise Act.
“In the courtroom scene, the co-star comes onstage with a bottle of liquor and urges other people to taste it. This scene outrages the dignity of the court. It should have also featured a statutory warning, which it did not," Dhakad was quoted as saying by The Indian Express at the time.
2. MTV Roadies
In 2013, seventh judicial magistrate first class NK Patil in Nagpur directed the police to file an FIR against producers of the reality show 'MTV Roadies' over the language used on the show. Patil had asked the police to probe the broadcast of "highly objectionable" content of Roadies under Section 153 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), The Times of India reported.
3.Backbenchers
Bollywood actor Raveena Tandon, comedian Bharti Singh and film producer Farah Khan were booked for "hurting religious sentiments" in 2019. The complainant, chairman of Samson Brigade Christian Youths Vijay Goria, alleged that the trio mocked a word associated with Christianity in the show 'Backbenchers'. The word in question was “hallelujah”. The three women faced charges under Section 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs).
4. Tandav
'Tandav', a 2021 web series based on politics, faced boycott calls after it was released on Amazon Prime. In January 2021, an FIR was filed against the makers of the show for "promoting enmity and causing public mischief". Hindustan Times reported that the police received information about clips of the series being shared on social media platforms that "defamed a particular group in the society." A case was registered under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between groups), 295 (defiling place of worship with intent to insult religion), 505 (statement conducing public mischief), 469 (forgery on purpose of harming reputation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections of the IT Act.
5. Paatal Lok
Produced by Anushka Sharma in 2020, the thriller crime web series starring Jaideep Ahlawat, Abhishek Banerjee and Swastika Mukherjee faced controversies and was accused of "hurting religious sentiments" of the Sikh community in India. Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Manjinder Singh Sirsa had particularly talked about a scene where a woman was being raped by a Sikh man. Sirsa asked the Information and Broadcasting Minister to ban the series.
The Gorkha community too complained over a sexist slur in the series. Lawmaker Indra Hang Subba from Sikkim had written to the then I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar and said that more than 10.5 million people in India speak Nepali and were "deeply affected by the incident." The Bharatiya Gorkha Yuva Parisangh also took strong note of the incident and demanded to mute the slur, The Indian Express reported.
